ODESSA, Texas – The Eastern New Mexico men's basketball team dropped their first Lone Star Conference game of the season by a final score of 95-81 on the road at UT-Permian Basin.

The Hounds narrowed a 52-37 halftime deficit to within seven points at 68-61 with 11:45 remaining in the game, but couldn't overcome an outstanding shooting performance for the Falcons, who knocked down 38-of-63 attempts (60.3 percent) from the field in route to their second straight LSC victory. Senior Chukuka Emili led the way in scoring for the Hounds for the second straight game with 19 points, converting on 6-of-10 (60 percent) shots from the field.

UT-Permian Basin combated the Hounds efforts midway through the second half with a 14-11 run to increase their lead back to double digits, and then rattled off nine unanswered points to effectively put the game out of reach for Eastern New Mexico. The Falcons jumped on the Hounds early, converting twelve of their first seventeen shot attempts, and continually knocked down contested shots throughout the afternoon.

The Hounds shot the ball well in the second half, posting a 44.4 percent (16-of-36) clip, but couldn't slow down UT-Permian Basin enough to pull off the come from behind victory. Emili along with four other Hounds reached double-digit scoring figures, while Emili led the rebounding effort with eight rebounds and knocked down all seven of his free throw attempts.

Senior Zach Parker totaled 12 points, going 3-of-7 from behind the three-point line while Nick Brown, Devin Pullum and Darius Sawyer all scored 11 points. Pullum and Sawyer also contributed to the effort in multiple ways, as Pullum led the team with five assists while Sawyer chipped in five rebounds.

The 60 percent shooting output for the Falcons matches their season high and stands as the second highest shooting percentage in a game by a team this season in the Lone Star Conference.

The Hounds will need to recover quickly from their first conference loss of the season as they hit the road for the second straight weekend next week for games on Jan. 10 and 12 against Angelo State and Texas A&M-Kingsville.