PORTALES, N.M. – The Eastern New Mexico men's basketball team will open up Lone Star Conference play this weekend with games against MSU Texas on Thursday night and Cameron on Saturday afternoon.

The Hounds will be looking to win their LSC opener for the first time since the 2012-13 season and will look to feed off of the hostile environment inside Greyhound Arena. Presented by Wienerschnitzel on Thursday evening and the Roosevelt County Electric Coop on Saturday afternoon, both games will serve as opportunities to get the Hound's season moving in the right direction.

GREEN OUT
In honor of the first LSC game of the season, Greyhound Arena will be "Greened Out" for Thursday night's contest against MSU Texas. Fans are encouraged to arrive in green from head to toe and generate some buzz inside Greyhound Arena early and often.

SUPER HERO NIGHT
Saturday evening will serve as "Super Hero" night inside Greyhound Arena during which time fans are encouraged to put on their best super hero costumes and cheer the Hounds on to victory.

LAST TIME OUT 
Eastern New Mexico stayed busy over the Thanksgiving holiday, taking part in three games over the course of six days and traveled as far west as El Paso, Texas and as far east as Topeka, Kansas. Two of the contests took place in exhibition action against Division I opposition as the Hounds took on UTEP and New Mexico State on the road to open up the week.

The Hounds trailed by just six coming out of the halftime break to the Miners on Monday night, and quickly took the lead following an 18-to-7 run to open up the second half that put Eastern ahead 45-40. Five total shot attempts in the final five minutes ultimately led to the Hound's downfall as UTEP outscored Eastern by a final score of 9-to-2 in the final five minutes of the game.

Following the impressive performance at UTEP, Eastern struggled in the remaining two games throughout the week with a 92-65 loss to New Mexico State and a 94-56 loss to Washburn.

SCOUTING THE MUSTANGS
An MSU Texas team that, like the Hounds has struggled to find their identity early in the season, will square off with some familiar faces as coach Segler and assistant coach Andre Shaw both have had experience on the Mustang bench throughout their careers. MSU Texas has dropped three straight contests after beginning the year 3-1 and will be anxious to get off to a hot start in league play after being selected sixth in the Lone Star Conference Preseason Polls.

The Mustangs will once again feature a transfer-heavy roster with 10 transfers currently listed on their roster. Junior Bishop Coulter serves as the top scoring threat for Midwestern with an average of 12.1 points per contest and is joined by guard JaJuan Starks as the two players averaging double digits on the squad.

One of the key match-ups throughout the contest will be the battle inside between two of the conference's top post players in Eastern's Chukuka Emili and Midwestern's Gilbert Thomas. Emili is second in the LSC with an average of 9.6 boards per game while Thomas ranks fourth with an average of 8.1 and has totaled 10 or more boards three separate occasions this season.

SCOUTING THE AGGIES
Cameron enters this weekend's games with a record of 2-4, fresh off of back-to-back losses to non-conference foes Southwestern Oklahoma State and University of Arkansas-Fort Smith. Senior Zach Dumas has taken the early advantage in the conference scoring crown race, averaging 19.5 points per game and was named the LSC Offensive Player of the Week last week after scoring 28 and 20 points against Dallas Baptist and Southwestern Oklahoma State.

Dumas has continued scoring at a high level this week, recording his third straight game of 20 or more points Tuesday night against UAFS. The Achilles heel for the Aggies has undoubtedly been their defensive output as they rank last in the LSC with a scoring defense surrendering 82.7 points per game.  

A MUST WIN MEASURING STICK
The first conference weekend of the year always proves to be so vital as each Lone Star Conference team will play two games this weekend before beginning a stretch of non-conference competition prior to finishing out the rest of the regular season in conference play. As coach Segler and company discovered first hand a season ago, every game matters in the LSC, but stealing two wins to start out the conference schedule could prove vital.

Last season the Hounds squeaked into the postseason conference tournament with a conference record of 6-12 and didn't earn their first conference victory until the third weekend of conference play. Wins this weekend would provide the Hounds with a much needed confidence boost as well as a jump start to their quest to qualify for the LSC Postseason Tournament for the second straight season.

ZACH ATTACK
Last year's leading scorer Zach Parker has picked up right where he left off a season ago for the Hounds and currently leads the squad with an average of 12.6 points per game. The senior has scored double-digit points in four of the five games this season and will be coming off two games against Jarvis Christian and Washburn in which he totaled 14 and 16 points respectively.

SOMEONE JOIN THE PARTY
With just five games under their belt it is apparent that Parker and Emili will be focal points both offensively and defensively for Eastern New Mexico this season, but the pressing question for coach Segler and the rest of the team this weekend will be finding that consistent third, fourth and fifth option to contribute meaningful minutes. Junior Isaiah Murphy has recently inserted his name at the forefront of that discussion with solid performances against New Mexico Highlands and Jarvis Christian, scoring 17 and 13 points respectively.

Sophomore Devin Pullum has continued to see action off of the bench and figures to continue to develop as the season moves along while senior Maurice Coleman will continue to be the point man in an Eastern defense that desperately needs to have a productive weekend as they currently rank ninth in the LSC in scoring defense (81.6 ppg).

EARLY SEASON SHUFFLE
One of the key preseason points that coach Segler emphasized was the depth that the Greyhounds would possess this season and how it would take some early season shuffling to find the right combination to produce a winning formula. That idea has been evident so far this season as nine Hounds are currently averaging double-digit minutes throughout the first five games of the year.