PORTALES, N.M. – The Eastern New Mexico men's basketball team will hit the road for the second straight weekend to take part in the 2018 Ed Messbarger Tip-Off Classic hosted by Angelo State University.

The Hounds will be looking for their first victory of the 2018 season after dropping both games in last weekend's New Mexico Classic tournament in Albuquerque, N.M. and will look to do so with new scoring threats that are beginning to emerge as the young season progresses. Eastern will take on Heartland Conference foe St. Edward's on Friday afternoon at 4 p.m. and then again at 4 p.m. on Saturday afternoon against Jarvis Christian.

LAST TIME OUT
Eastern New Mexico fell in both games last weekend on the campus of the University of New Mexico in the annual New Mexico Classic. The Hounds opened up the 2018 season with a frustrating 82-74 loss at the hands of Fort Lewis College in a game in which Eastern led 70-68 with just over two minutes remaining in the game. Fort Lewis went on to make all four attempts from the field and eight free throw attempts from the charity stripe to pull away in the final minutes of the contest.

Senior Chukuka Emili just missed on double-double figures with 21 points and nine rebounds for the contest. The Hounds struggled throughout the game from the three-point line, converting on just 3-of-30 attempts from long range, while the Skyhawks shot 52.2 percent (24-of-46) from the field and an outstanding 12-of-22 from the three-point line.

Eastern was unable to convert on a lead in Saturday's game against New Mexico Highlands once again, holding the 41-40 halftime advantage over the Cowboys and made just 1-of-15 attempts from three-point range in the final half. Emili was strong once again for the Hounds with 11 points and 11 boards, while junior Isaiah Murphy stepped up off the bench with 17 points in the contest.

Senior Zach Parker connected on a team-high four three pointers to finish with 16 points. Eastern starts off the year 0-2 for the first time since the 2015-16 season.

MOVING AHEAD
Despite the small bump in the road to start off the season, the Hounds year is far from doomed as they will have plenty of time to grow and develop before hitting the meat of their schedule. This weekend will serve as a premium opportunity to see how the adjustments after reviewing the film from last weekend effect the team as they will face off with a talented St. Edward's team and a relatively unfamiliar foe in Jarvis Christian.

After this weekend the Hounds will hit the road once again for the Thanksgiving holiday break for exhibition match-ups at UTEP and New Mexico State before squaring off with a traditional MIAA power in Washburn on the road in Topeka, Kansas on Saturday, Nov. 24 at 5 p.m.

SCOUTING THE HILLTOPPERS
St. Edwards opened up their 2018 season last weekend in Austin, Texas with wins against Colorado Christian and Colorado Mesa after taking down Division I foe UTSA on Nov. 7 in exhibition action. The Hilltoppers rank first in all of Division II basketball in total three-point attempts made with 56 on the season and are shooting 42.7 percent from three-point range on the year as a team.

Junior Ashton Spears leads the Heartland Conference in total field goals made with 24 and will enter the game on Friday afternoon with the Hounds averaging 17.3 points per game. Spears as well as forwards Corey Shervill and Dorian Lopez all average double digit points through the first two games of the season, while Lopez leads the squad with an average of 7.5 rebounds per game.

The Hilltoppers defeated Eastern New Mexico in the St. Edward's Thanksgiving Classic 96-83 last season after shooting 56.7 percent from the field. Those 96 points were the third most surrendered by the Hounds all of last season.

SCOUTING THE BULLDOGS
Jarvis Christian is an NAIA program hailing from the Red River Athletic Conference and will be squaring off with the Hounds for just the second time in both program's history. The Hounds took the victory in that lone match-up back in 1996 and will look for a similar result on Saturday afternoon against a Bulldog squad that enters the season 2-2.

Jarvis sports wins over Dallas Christian College and Philander Smith College, but were handily defeated by Langston University and No. 11 Texas Wesleyan University to open up their 2018 campaign. The Bulldog offense runs directly through senior Chasten King, who has averaged 26.3 points per game throughout the first four games of the year for the Bulldogs and has tripled the amount of next closest shot attempts for the team with 62 attempts on the year.

THE CHU CHU TRAIN
The high-level production from Chukuka Emili last weekend was outstanding as the senior averaged 30.5 minutes on the court for the Hounds while leading the way with 32 points and 20 rebounds over the course of the two contests. Emili also provided two blocks and a steal and turned the ball over just twice over the span of 80 minutes of basketball.

Emili converted on 12-of-18 attempts from the field and also sunk 8-of-12 attempts from the free throw line and will need to continue that offensive production as the Hounds continue to find their rhythm offensively.

SECOND HALF BLUES
It's been no secret that Eastern struggled mightily in the second half of both games last weekend and will benefit from a week full of practices that will undoubtedly be geared towards increased shooting performance and finishing out games down the stretch. The Hounds were outscored 94-to-74 in the second half last weekend and made just 3-of-25 attempts from the three-point line.

As is always the case when a team jumps right into the heart of competition with a lack of exhibition match-ups, it takes some time to gel together especially in the high-pressure situations in the second half of early season basketball games. As the Hounds move forward and get accustomed to competing at a high level as a unit, those second half numbers will surely improve.

COME HOME TO US
Greyhound fans will be anxious to welcome the 2018-19 version of the Eastern New Mexico men's basketball team to Greyhound Arena on Nov. 29 and Dec. 1 for the opening weekend of Lone Star Conference play. By the time that home-opening weekend kicks off the Hounds will have had seven total games under their belt, which includes two Division I exhibition games and three games against opponents that were tabbed near the top of their respective conference rankings. To say Greyhound Nation will watch a seasoned squad would be considered by many to be a vast understatement.