ODESSA, Texas –The Eastern New Mexico University men's basketball team dropped a physical contest against UTPB, 79-94, on Thursday evening in Odessa at the UTPB Gym. The loss moves the Greyhounds to 4-4 on the season and 0-1 in Lone Star Conference play.

"Tonight's game was a really tough one," ENMU Head Coach Tres Segler said. "I thought Andy did a great job tonight preparing his team. They were excited to play and they made some really big shots tonight. We truly guarded like we wanted to tonight and I was very proud at how we worked as a team to handle their isolation plays."
 
The Green and Silver were led by a pair of strong all-around performances from Joe Clarke and CoRnell Neal. Clarke led the team with 18 points and added five rebounds, three assists and three steals in 29 minutes while Neal had 14 points, six assists two rebounds and a steal. The six assists by the Midwest City, Okla., native matched a season-high.
 
Eastern was paced offensively in the first half by Joe Clarke, who accounted for 12 points, three rebounds, two assists and two steals in 14 minutes. Marquise Harris came up clutch for the Greyhounds multiple times from beyond the three point line to eventually give the Greyhounds the lead with 2:51. An 11-2 run by the Falcons to close out the first half sent the Green and Silver into the locker room down 44-36.
 
In the second half, the Greyhounds started quickly, racing out to a 9-2 run to start the half and taking a one point lead at just over the 15 minute mark. After a run by UTPB, the Greyhounds again closed the gap to within three with just under four minutes to play at 74-71, but a 20-8 run by the Falcons, aided by a number of free throws down the stretch.

"We made some mental toughness errors that cost us in some big moments, but I'm very proud of how we competed with effort and energy," Segler added.
 
The Greyhounds open up Lone Star Conference play on Saturday, Dec. 3 when both the men and women travel to Canyon to take on West Texas A&M. Tipoff is slated for 3:00 p.m. (MT). For the latest news, follow @ENMUAthletics and @ENMU_Hoops on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram and visit goeasternathletics.com.