PORTALES, N.M. –The Eastern New Mexico University men's basketball team used a late run to pick up an 80-74 win over Wayland Baptist on Thursday evening at Greyhound Arena. The win improves Eastern to 6-8 on the season and matches the win total from the 2015-16 squad.
 
"When I accepted the job here at Eastern New Mexico, one of my first goals was to win more games than the team did last year," ENMU Head Coach Tres Segler said. "It feels good to reach that first milestone as a team and we're looking to continue to improve every day."
 
As a team, Eastern shot 56% from the field and was led offensively by guard Joe Clarke who netted 20 points in the win. CoRnell Neal put together a strong all-around game with 16 points, seven rebounds and three steals while Chris Lewis picked up 14 points and a game-high eight rebounds.
 
"The guys did a great job of not settling for threes by getting into the lane and scoring off two feet," Segler said. "That's something we've been working to do all season and I think it resulted in some better looks tonight. Joe's line was very efficient because he was able to drive into the lane. I'm very proud of the way he played tonight. Chris Lewis did a good job of rebounding the ball tonight. He's technically our big forward, but he did a nice job of handling the inbound duties and beating their press with good passes."
 
The 'Hounds and Pioneers went back and forth in a competitive first half that featured four lead changes and three ties as ENMU took a 37-32 lead into the locker room. Eastern shot lights out in the opening period, going 13-of-24, good for a 54% field goal percentage after knocking down its final six shots.
 
Down three with four and a half minutes to go, Eastern mounted a 13-0 run and cashing in on five turnovers by the Pioneers to take a 72-62 lead going into the final minute. After being held quiet offensively for much of the game, Marquise Harris found a rhythm, scoring all seven of his points in the final five minutes.
 
"We break the game up into four-minute segments and going into the last media timeout, I told the team that I wanted them to play as if it was a fresh game," Segler said on the late push by the Greyhounds. "We had made some mistakes and had some bad turnovers before that, but I was very pleased with how they hit the reset button and finished strong."
 
The Greyhounds tip off the new year in Silver City, NM, on Tuesday, Jan. 3 against Western New Mexico in the return to Lone Star Conference action. Tipoff against the Mustangs is slated for 7:30 p.m. For the latest news, follow @ENMUAthletics and @ENMU_Hoops on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram and visit goeasternathletics.com.