Official Athletics Site of the Greyhounds

PORTALES, N.M. – The Eastern New Mexico University basketball team overcame a slow start on Friday for an 80-77 overtime victory against New Mexico Highlands at First United Bank Center in Canyon. Head coach Tres Segler earned a hard-fought first victory with his squad.
 
"The pride I have from having so many people hoping and pulling for us is incredible," Segler said. "Being able to honor my grandfather, father and entire family with my first win as a head coach and be a part of this program is something special. It's not just my first win, it's the team's first win. It's a testament to these kids and what we're doing here. This was not about me. It's way more important to our program to show that we're all on the same page and working together. I was very proud with how we handled adversity. We played as a team. I could not be more proud of our guys."
 
Five players for the Greyhounds notched at least 12 points while Marquise Harris, Joe Clarke and Javaan Mumtaz led the Green and Silver with 14. Wyms dished out five assists to only one turnover and added four rebounds, two blocks and two steals in 30 minutes of action. The bench was the spark that Eastern needed as the 'Hounds scored 42 points of the bench, outscoring the Cowboys' bench, 42-15.
 
Eastern overcame a slow start after falling behind 13-4 in the opening six minutes of action. Despite shooting just over 30% in the first half, the Greyhounds went into the intermission trailing by three. Harris and Clarke led the scoring with six points apiece in the first half while Shawn Shelton pulled down five of his seven boards on the night.
 
"We got off to a really slow start," Segler said. "I think early, we thought it was going to be a lot easier. I was proud of how the guys climbed back in. We were worried about falling into a big hole and not being able to get back into the game, but we looked up and we were only down one."
 
The 'Hounds found their rhythm in the second half, shooting 42% from the field. Mumtaz (8), Clarke (8), Andre Hughes (8), Wyms (6) and Chris Lewis (6) all contributed at least six points following the intermission. With just under 12 minutes to play, Shelton tied the score at 41 with an and one layup and Eastern took the lead about a minute later on Clarke's layup.
 
ENMU held a narrow two-point lead with 30 seconds to play, but Joe Anaya connected on a layup to tie the game at 67 to force overtime. Tied at 75 in the extra period, Harris knocked down a dagger of a three pointer to give Eastern the lead for good.
 
"Late in the game, Mumtaz gave us some big shots off the bench," Segler said." CoRnell Neal did a great job of keeping their point guard frustrated for much of the night. Chris Wyms played an unbelievable second half. Marquise Harris comes back in overtime and bangs a huge three late after getting in foul trouble. Joe Clarke got into the lane and really changed the game for us and swung the momentum in our favor."
 
The Greyhounds continue the RMAC/LSC Challenge tomorrow night against 15^th-ranked Fort Lewis. Tipoff is slated for 6:30 p.m. in Canyon, Texas. For the latest news, follow @ENMUAthletics and @ENMU_Hoops on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram and visit goeasternathletics.com.