PORALES, N.M. –The Eastern New Mexico University men's basketball strung together a strong second-half, pulling to within six points of 15^th-ranked Tarleton in a 92-79 loss to the Texans. The setback moves the Greyhounds to 4-7 on the season and 0-4 in Lone Star Conference play.
 
"To win in the Lone Star Conference, you have to play extraordinarily well," ENMU Head Coach Tres Segler said. "Against Tarleton State, a top-15 team, you have to do everything extraordinarily well. For us to be able to win a game like that, we have to play on raw emotion. We had to flirt with some bigger mistakes because of your effort and your motor. As a young coach, I didn't do a great job of corralling the emotion and the energy. Our will to win over ran our thought process."
 
Senior guard CoRnell Neal finished with 20 points on 4-of-6 shooting, including 10-of-14 from the line and adding four assists and three rebounds. In his first action of the season, junior guard Lamarquis Thompson notched five assists and four rebounds.
 
"Statistically, I went into this game knowing we needed to win a lot of statistical categories to win it. CoRnell Neal had a really good all-around game. We had 17 assists to only 11 turnovers. That's astoundingly better than it's been. In my heart, I thought we played well enough to win, but I have to coach better. I made plenty of mistakes to lose it for us."
 
From 7:17 to 2:14 Eastern was held without a field goal in the first half, going 0-for-6 before Harris nailed a three from the corner to cut it to 11, 33-22. Going into the break, Eastern trimmed the deficit to nine after holding the Texans to three points over the final four minutes of the half. Neal led the way offensively with seven points while Harris and Shelton each added six.  Chris Lewis provided an exclamation point to close the frame with a two-handed slam on an assist from Andre Hughes.
 
Out of the break, the Texans opened the half on a 12-2 run to move ahead by 19. Eastern continually closed the gap, but a number of three-pointers from Tarleton State quelled the momentum of the Greyhounds. The Green and Silver cut it to within seven at the 11-minute mark, 53-46 after trailing by as much as 19 in the second half with an 11-1 run. Neal and Javaan Mumtaz came up with back-to-back three pointers capping the run for the Green and Silver. After progressively pulling back in it, ENMU pulled to within six at the 3:50 mark, but strong shooting by Tarleton at the free-throw line closed out the game.
 
"In the LSC, there is no room for error. Everyone is good. This is not even the LSC of two years ago. This is the best conference I've seen in three or four years. We have to step up and win the games we have to win. I think the teams we've played already respect us now and see that we're for real. I don't think my guys are scared of anybody. It's a blessing that these kids are figuring it out
 
The Greyhounds host Lubbock Christian on Tuesday, Dec. 13, at Greyhound Arena. Tipoff is slated for 7:00 p.m. (MT). For the latest news, follow @ENMUAthletics and @ENMU_Hoops on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram and visit goeasternathletics.com.