For the second year, ‘the Glove’ came to Española.
NBA legend and hall-of-famer Gary Payton is now the coach of Lincoln University in Oakland, Calif. And his Oaklanders came to town to face the Eagles of Northern New Mexico College.
Lincoln got the win over Northern as part of the Century Classic Tournament in Española on Dec. 9, winning 74-70 in a second-half surge.
“I love it here, that’s why I came back,” Payton said of Española. “It’s friendly, it’s nice, it’s homely to me. I don’t have to go to that city life.”
Payton stayed well after the game to take pictures with and sign autographs for fans, including from the Los Alamos boys basketball team.
“It was a great experience for the community, for the kids,” said Northern coach Jesus Aragon. “Having a legend like that here in our home, here in this town, I think is great. He already promised me, we’ll come back too next year.”
At halftime of the men’s game, Northern honored Payton along with Terry Tyler, an 11-year NBA veteran who is now an assistant with the Eagles, though Tyler’s career preceded Payton’s.
“It’s a great honor to be coming to where people appreciate what I did in the day,” Payton said. “Coach (Aragon) is a great man for doing that for me. They should be honored to have him here. It’s just something that you feel good about. I’ve been out of basketball for a long time, but people still recognize me.”
Nigel Quaynor led the Eagles with 17 points in the game.
Eloy Medina started the game with a 3-pointer, and the Eagles got off to a fast 10-2 start. Later in the first half, they led 21-12, and led by eight at halftime.
But the Skyhawks got off to a hot start in the second half, immediately tying the game with a 12-4 run, then took the lead. Payton said his team turned up their aggressiveness in the second half.
Lincoln led by nine points until Northern started to come back. The Eagles were within three points with two minutes remaining. But with 95 seconds left, the Skyhakws hit what became a dagger 3-pointer to take an eight -point lead late in the game.
“We didn’t get beat, but we gave them the game,” said team captain Emmanuel Taban, who scored nine point. “I don’t think we’ll win any games having 27 turnovers.”
Northern allowed just 26 points in the first half, but 48 points in the second half. Aragon said turnovers and a gap in concentration hurt Northern in the second half. He said their press defense worked in the first half, but wore down the team.
“We was expecting a game like that, they’s a good team,” Aragon said. “But we should have win … We couldn’t score in the right moments.”
The next day, Northern defeated Navajo Tech 91-50.
The Eagles play at New Mexico State University on Tuesday, and play at Eastern New Mexico on Thursday.
Lady Eagles
Northern’s women’s team rolled through the weekend with more big wins adding to a fantastic season so far.
The Lady Eagles faced Navajo Tech twice, and won big both times.
On Dec. 8, the Eagles defeated the Skyhawks 101-46.
Northern scored the first 17 points of the game as Navajo Tech struggled to get past halfcourt against Northern’s press. The Eagles led 31-8 after one quarter, and 62-19 at halftime.
They passed the century ark in the final minute of the game on a layup by Ruth Sodipe.
Ethena Silva led the Lady Eagles with 16 points. Gillian Roybal added 13 points.
Northern again defeated Navajo Tech the next day 124-42. The Lady Eagles continue their strong season now at 8-5 overall.
Northern next takes on Westcliff University in a non-conference game on Tuesday, and they play Division II’s University of Texas Permian Basin on Friday.