Men's Basketball | 11/12/2015 1:57:00 PM
Thursday, November 12, 2015
PORTALES, N.M. — The holiday season is upon us and that means Eastern New Mexico University men's basketball is back in action, playing their first set of games this weekend in Durango, Colo., at the Skyhawks Regional Challenge.
The team will kick of the classic with a matchup against in-state rivals New Mexico Highlands University Friday, Nov. 13, at 3:00 p.m. (MT). Following the match against the Cowboys, the Greyhounds will look to take on the host team, Ft. Lewis College. Tipoff is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. (MT) Saturday.
ENMU will showcase a host of new talent, as well as six returning student-athletes from last year including John Gilliam and Lawrence Domingo. Some of the many players to watch this season will be New Mexico born Brady Patterson and returning redshirt Ladarius Stewart, along with transfers Chaunce Hill and Stephon Edwards.
Patterson enters his freshman season coming off a an illustrious high school career at Rio Rancho High School in Rio Rancho, N.M., where he helped his school not only win a state championship in Football, but led the basketball team to a 23-9 record and made it to the N.M. State Tournament semifinals. Paterson finished the 2014-15 season averaging 21.3 points per game and 6.4 assists per game as well as being named the USA Today Player of the Year for the state.
Stewart, another football player turned to basketball star, helped Tift County High School in Tifton, Georgia, go 29-3 his senior year and win the Georgia 6A State Championship. He was also voted to the Georgia 6A All-State Team while averaging 8 ppg, 4 apg, 3.8 rbg and 1.8 spg his senior year.
Hill, the 6-7 presence in the middle for the Hounds, attended Citrus College in Glendora, Calif., where he helped the team to a 16-11 record and averaged 6.1 points per game and grabbing 139 total rebounds. Before attending Citrus, Hill played for one season at Odessa College in Odessa, Texas.
Edwards, formerly of Marshalltown Community College in Marshalltown, Iowa, averaged 5.3 ppg while grabbing 2.1 boards and 0.5 blocks per game. Edwards brings a high level of athleticism and court presence to the team this year, coming in at 6-7
Since 2005, the Greyhounds are 5-0 against Highlands, with the most recent win coming Nov. 23, 2011. ENMU beat Highlands 104-98. The team has faced Ft. Lewis three times since 2009, most recently falling 104-72 to the Skyhawks Nov. 20, 2014, in Durango.
This will be the first time in recent history that Eastern will play in the Skyhawks Regional Challenge.
