Box Score PORTALES, N.M. - Eastern New Mexico men's basketball battled hard in its season opener dropping an extremely competitive game to New Mexico Highlands 112-108 Saturday night in its first of two at the LSC/RMAC Conference Challenge.
 
Trailing by ten points with two minutes remaining in regulation the Hounds leaned on their aggressive trap defense to will themselves back into the contest. Junior guard Devin Pullum scored eight of his team-high 25 points to lead the Eastern rally, showing he has ice in his veins as he tied the game at 94-94 with a pair of free throws with seven seconds left on the clock.
 
The Hounds were able to limit the Cowboys to just three made field goals in the overtime period however, two of those attempts came from beyond the arch. Highlands was able to cash in at the line, shooting 10-12 from the charity stripe as they where able to fend off the late Eastern run.
 
Pullum shot an efficient 47.1 percent from the field, knocking down eight of his 17 field goal attempts, doing most of his damage in the second half. Senior Isaiah Murphy finished second on the team in scoring with 14 points as he added three assists, three rebounds and a pair of steals.
 
Junior forward Yosnier Cobas proved to be a jack of all trades has he led the team with eight rebounds and five assists while he also added eight points.
 
The two squads appeared fairly matched in the rebound column as Eastern held a slim 41-39 advantage. Highlands shot the lights out of the gym from three-point range, converting on 42.4 percent from deep with 14 makes compared to Eastern's four.
 
The Hounds will look for more favorable results tomorrow when they take the hardwood against tournament host Fort Lewis at 4 p.m.