Saturday, November 29, 2014
 
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CANYON, TEXAS – Junior John Gilliam nailed a three-pointer as time ran out Saturday afternoon in the First United Bank Center to give the Eastern New Mexico men's basketball team a 76-73 victory over Harding in the Pak-A-Sak Thanksgiving Classic. Gilliam ended up recording his first career double-double with a team-high 21 points, 19 of which came in the second half, and 10 rebounds.
 
The Greyhounds improve their record to 4-3 while the Bison fall to 3-3 and have lost two straight.
 
Six straight points by HU in less than a minute gave them a 53-47 lead, their largest of the contest, with 12:58 to play in the game. ENMU responded with a 16-4 run over a 5:35 span that was capped off by a jumper from junior Demetrius Balark. During the scoring streak, Gilliam tallied seven of the team's points.
 
Eastern eventually stretched their lead to eight twice with the second time being 69-61 with 4:44 left on the clock following two free throws by junior Jason Clardy.
 
In only 70 seconds, the Bison wiped the deficit away to knot the score 69-69 as 2:34 showed on the scoreboard. Neither team scored until Gilliam converted two shots at the charity stripe at the 1:03 mark.
 
HU tied the game on an Andraz Kavas' layup but Gilliam responded with a layup of his own to put ENMU up by two. With 15 seconds remaining Kavas made both of his free throw attempts, tying the game at 73-73.
 
After getting the ball over the half court line the Greyhounds called timeout with seven seconds left in the game. Gilliam received the in-bound pass but a tough Bison defense forced him to take a long three from 30 feet out that he hit for the game-winner.
 
Beginning the game down 7-2 after a little over three minutes of action, ENMU nailed back-to-back three-pointers courtesy of junior Lawrence Domingo and Balark for their first advantage of the game. The two longest distance shots also started a 14-2 run for the Greyhounds capped off by two free throws from senior Michael Randle.
 
Eastern took the largest lead of the game by either team at the 9:26 mark in the first half following a jumper in the paint by Domingo to put them ahead by nine.
 
HU scored 10 of the next 12 points to nearly erase ENMU's advantage with 6:15 until halftime. Gilliam had the team's only points during the stretch on a layup as Clardy was credited with an assist on the play.
 
Two old-fashion three-point plays by Balark and a free throw from Randle helped the Greyhounds take a 34-28 lead. Nine consecutive points scored by the Bison put the opponents back on top by three with 51 seconds until halftime.
 
Balark cut the deficit to one with two free throws. Then with five seconds on the clock, junior Chris Wyms swiped the ball and was fouled as he made a fastbreak layup. He made the free throw attempt for the final score of the period to put Eastern ahead 39-37.
 
Two Greyhounds also reached double-figures in points in the game as Balark tallied 18 points and Domingo added 12. Of Balark's total, 16 came in the first half as he was 5-for-8 from the field and made all four of his charity stripe shots.
 
Wyms led the team with six assists and two steals while he and Domingo both grabbed seven rebounds apiece.
 
ENMU overcame a combined 56 points from HU's Will Francis and Kavas. Francis finished with 23 points as he made four threes and was 11-of-12 at the free throw line. Recording his second double-double of the season was Kavas with a career-high 33 points and 10 boards. No other Bison had more than five points in the game.
 
The Greyhounds were 25-for-63 (39.7 percent) shooting the ball and hit 8-of-29 (27.6 percent) three-pointers. They did make a season-high 78.3 percent from the line as they made 18-of-23 attempts, including going 7-for-8 after halftime.
 
On the glass, Eastern had a 42-33 advantage and had 12 offensive rebounds to HU's four. That led to 12 second chance points for ENMU and only six for the opponents.
 
The Greyhounds are back in action Tuesday night for their first home game of the season. Texas-Permian Basin comes to Greyhound Arena for a 7 p.m. tipoff.
 
For the latest information on Greyhound basketball, follow @ENMUSports on Twitter and visit the official website of ENMU Athletics at GoEasternAtheltics.com.