PORTALES, N.M. – The Eastern New Mexico men's basketball team fell by a final score of 112-99 to Texas A&M-Commerce despite playing over 31 minutes of the game with just four players.
An altercation between Texas A&M-Commerce's Tyree Robinson and Eastern New Mexico's
Deng Kuany at the 11:57 mark of the opening half resulted in the ejection of both players, along with the Eastern New Mexico bench that stepped onto the court but did not engage in any part of the altercation. Per NCAA rules every player that steps onto the court during an altercation is subject to an automatic ejection, which in this case resulted in the entire Greyhound bench being removed from the game, leaving the Hounds with just four eligible players to compete.
Devin Pullum,
Nick Brown,
Mangistu Jongkor and
Isaiah Murphy played the remainder of the contest and totaled 74 points against the Lions with just four players on the court. Pullum recorded a career-high 39 points, going 12-of-22 from the floor and 12-of-15 from the free throw line to help lead a heroic effort by the four Hounds that totaled 40, 39, 35, and 35 minutes of on-court action.
Eastern New Mexico jumped out to an early 24-12 advantage prior to the altercation and didn't surrender the lead for over 10 minutes before a Lion three-point shot at the 1:28 mark finally put them ahead 50-49. The four Hounds on the court combated a relentless press by the Lions throughout the entirety of the first half and entered the halftime break tied at 53-53.
Pullum, Brown, Jongkor and Murphy continued to fight valiantly throughout the second half and were only outscored by the opposition 59-46 in 20 minutes of 5-on-4 basketball. The foursome combined to make 14-of-26 attempts (53.8 percent) from the field and 14-of-19 attempts from the free throw line to stay within 10 points of the Lions until just over 10 minutes remained on the clock.
22 of Pullum's 39 points came in the second half while Brown also reached double digits in the second half alone, totaling 13 points thanks to a 3-of-5 shooting performance from beyond the three-point line in the final 20 minutes of action. Brown totaled 21 points for the entirety of the game and also recorded six rebounds. Jongkor led the rebounding effort for the Hounds with 10 boards and also recorded nine points.
Eastern New Mexico recorded a season high 58.2 percent shooting percentage (32-for-55) in the contest and also matched their season high in three-point makes for the second night in a row with 12.
Eastern New Mexico will look to build off of the heart and determination displayed by Pullum, Brown, Jongkor, and Murphy on Tuesday night against arch-rival West Texas A&M. The annual rivalry game, presented on Tuesday night by Big Valley Auto, is set for a 7:30 p.m. tip-off.