Friday, December 05, 2014

ESPANOLA, N.M. —  Junior forward Lawrence Domingo (Union City, Calif. / Community Charter Early College HS/Stoneridge Prep) hit the game-winning layup off a pass from Chris Wyms (Jr., G, Carson, Calif. / King Drew Medical Magnet HS / Cerritos College) with six seconds left, to lift the Eastern New Mexico University men's basketball (5-4) team to a 91-90 win at Northern New Mexico (5-7), Friday at Eagle Gym. The duo combined for 50 points, 10 rebounds, 11 assists and three steals.
 
With the win, the Hounds improved to 3-0 against the Eagles, although it was the first road game for ENMU in the series. The victory moved the Greyhouns to 4-0 on the season in games decided by eight points or less.
 
Neither team managed a double figure lead in a game that featured 14 lead changes and 12 tie scores. Eastern held a 44-41 lead at halftime, but Northern New Mexico managed to tie the game twice, early in the second half, the second time coming at 51-all on a Gabriel Martinez trey with 16:52 left. ENMU responded with a three-point bucket from Wyms and a jumper from Jason Clardy (Jr., F, Indianapolis, Ind. / Warren Central HS / Midland College) for a five-point lead, before NNMC managed to pull within a single point three times. A pair of Quincy Gause free throws with 11:07 left trimmed the Hounds' lead to 64-63, but three points from Domingo fueled an 8-2 Greyhound run over the ensuing 1:24, to push the advantage to 72-65. The Eagles stormed back and knotted the score with seven straight points, 72-all with 8:22 left.
 
Like a pendulum, the game continued to swing back and forth, until the Eagles took their first lead of the second half, 89-88, on an Eric Garcia jumper with 54 seconds remaining. After an exchange of free throws left NNMC with a 90-89 advantage with 16 seconds left, ENMU called timeout. When play resumed, Wyms found Domingo for the go-ahead layup, and Domingo registered a steal at the buzzer to seal the game.
 
Eastern capitalized on a 72-58 percent shooting advantage at the free throw line and connected on 23-of-32 attempts, while the Eagles hit just 25-of-43 from the charity stripe.  Wyms led Eastern and registered season highs with 27 points and nine assists on eight-of-14 from the floor, four—of-eight from three-point range and all seven free throws. Domingo scored a career-high 23 points to go along with eight rebounds and three steals. Michael Randle (Sr., G, Houston, Texas / James Madison HS / Paris JUCO) contributed 13 points, while John Gilliam (Jr., G, San Bernardino, Calif. / Upland HS / Chaffey College) chipped in seven points and six boards. William Harvey paced Northern New Mexico with 26 points and seven rebounds.
 
The Eastern New Mexico University men's basketball team will return to action next Saturday, to visit University of Texas of the Permian Basin.
 
Notes
Wyms and Domingo are the first duo to hit the 20-point mark in a game, since Cornelius Cammock (20) and Phil Henry (20) on January 14, at Texas A&M-Kingsville