After battling back and forth all night with New Mexico, the Cal men's basketball team finally got a six-point cushion.

Perhaps recalling the defensive strategies by the Bears' opponents in New York, the Lobos decided to switch to a zone defense with 9:40 to go in the game.

It proved to be the right move, as New Mexico (7-0) limited the Bears to just two field goals in the next six minutes and held on for an 86-78 win at The Pit on Wednesday night in Albuquerque, N.M.

In a game that featured 17 lead changes and inspired play from both teams, Cal (4-3) simply ran out of gas in the end.

"I was really proud of the kids' effort in terms of being ready to play," Bears coach Mike Montgomery said. "(But) we didn't have a lot of energy, and it's not a great place to not have a lot of energy."

The Lobos' Darington Hobson, on the other hand, could not be stopped and consistently got himself to the charity stripe in the second half. Hobson had a game-high 22 points to go along with 15 boards.

It wasn't just Hobson, however.

Senior Roman Martinez had 16 points, and his big three-pointer with 3:14 left brought fans to their feet.

When Dairese Gary's layup against 7-foot-3 Max Zhang made the score 81-76 in New Mexico's favor, the game was all but over.

"We were concerned about the matchup with Hobson and Martinez to start with," Montgomery said. "I thought we did a pretty good job on Martinez early, but then he hits a huge shot late coming off that little flare they run."

Martinez's clutch shot extended the Lobos' home winning streak to 14 games.

Early on, it was Cal connecting from long distance. The Bears shot 7-of-14 from three-point range in the first half, but Cal's rebounding prevented it from ever pulling away. The Bears were outworked on the glass, 42-31.

Second-half shooting wasn't great for New Mexico, but the team went 27-for-35 from the line. Cal made just 17 trips to the charity stripe.

The Bears were also hampered by foul trouble. After a solid game against Princeton, Omondi Amoke didn't score and fouled out with 8:44 to go.

Amoke and the other Cal reserves combined for just nine points.

Fortunately for the Bears, they were able to receive offensive contributions from their starters.

Jamal Boykin led the team in scoring for the second straight game with 21 points and grabbed 13 rebounds.

Jerome Randle tried to keep the Bears close, hitting three in a row from downtown during one stretch.

New Mexico was able to limit Cal's other All-Pac-10 guard, though.

Senior Patrick Christopher got things going for the Bears in the first half with 13 points.

However, after making the first basket of the second half, the senior guard went 0-for-5 the rest of the way.

Tags: CAL MEN'S BASKETBALL, JEROME RANDLE, MIKE MONTGOMERY