PORTALES, N.M. – The Eastern New Mexico men's basketball team will begin their three game road stretch to close out the 2019 regular season this weekend with road games at Texas A&M-Commerce and Tarleton State on Thursday and Saturday evenings.

The Hounds currently sit in fourth place in the Lone Star Conference standings after reeling off five straight wins in their most recent outings. Eastern will look to improve on a 3-6 record on the road, including just two wins away from home in conference play.

Texas A&M-Commerce currently sits fourth in the newly released NCAA Division II South Central Regional Rankings, while Tarleton State and Eastern New Mexico figure to be two of a handful of teams on the outside looking in when it comes to the top eight ranked teams that will be selected to the South Central Regional Tournament. Two wins over the weekend for the Greyhounds could potentially vault them into a tie for second place in the LSC standings with Texas A&M-Commerce barring their result against West Texas A&M on Saturday afternoon. 


LAST TIME OUT
Eastern New Mexico wrapped up their 2019 home schedule with a 76-72 win on Thursday night against Texas  A&M-Kingsville and an 83-71 win over Angelo State on Saturday afternoon to help send off seniors Chukuka Emili, Maurice Coleman, Nick Brown, Zach Parker and Arcaim Lallemand on a high note. Those two victories extended the Hounds win streak to five games, which currently stands as the second longest winning streak in the LSC aside from No. 4 West Texas A&M's 10 game streak.

The Hounds rode a relentless defensive effort to victory in both games, surrendering just 72 and 71 points per game, the lowest consecutive game total the Hounds have allowed against conference opposition all season. Senior Chukuka Emili garnered his second consecutive Player of the Week honor from the Lone Star Conference, earning LSC Defensive Player of the Week accolades after averaging eight rebounds and totaling eight blocks throughout the two wins over Texas A&M-Kingsville and Angelo State.

Sophomore Devin Pullum came up with yet another timely bucket against Texas A&M-Kingsville on Thursday night with 18 seconds left, extending the Hounds advantage to four points at 72-68. Eastern led by as many as nine points with just under five minutes remaining in the game, but needed the aforementioned Pullum bucket to ensure a two-possession difference in score with less than a minute to go on the clock.

That defensive pressure helped the Hounds keep Texas A&M-Kingsville in check down the stretch and then also pushed the Greyhounds to an 83-71 comeback victory over Angelo State that saw Eastern erase a 42-28 halftime deficit. Eastern allowed just eight field goal makes throughout the entirety of the second half against Angelo State and prevented the Rams from scoring a field goal for nearly 10 minutes in that half.


SCOUTING THE LIONS
Texas A&M-Commerce received a single vote in the Division II NABC Coaches Poll this week and currently sits fourth in the South Central Regional rankings with an overall record of 17-5. The Lions enter the weekend in second place in the LSC with a record of 11-3 in conference play, three games back of first place West Texas A&M, and have won five out of their last six contests.

The Lions have been consistent throughout LSC play, ranking third in scoring offense (80.6 ppg) and fifth in scoring defense (74.5 ppg), but have struggled underneath to control the game on the boards, ranking eighth against LSC foes in rebounding margin (-2.4). The key difference maker for the Lions has been the emergence of guard Willie Rooks, who has taken control of the squad in the absence of standout Reggie Reid, who has missed the Lions last four contests.

Rooks averages 16.1 points against conference opposition and has scored 13 or more points in all four games of Reid's absence. He also enters the weekend as the Lions top rebounding threat, averaging 7.0 rebounds per game against LSC foes.


SCOUTING THE TEXANS
Traditional powerhouse Tarleton State will not be pleased entering this weekend's play after not being mentioned in the top 10 of the South Central Regional Rankings despite sporting an overall record of 18-7, giving them more overall wins on the year than seven of the 10 teams ranked ahead of them. The Texans saw a three game win streak snapped at the hands of Texas A&M-Commerce last Thursday night in their most recent game and have failed to secure a win against any of the top four teams (West Texas A&M, Texas A&M-Commerce, Angelo State and Eastern New Mexico) so far this season.

Tarleton State sports the second best field goal percentage in the league (49.0 percent) for the year, but have been slightly less successful against their LSC opposition with a percentage of 46.5. Saturday's contest will once again match two of the league's top forwards in Eastern's Emili and Tarleton State's Josh Hawley. Each player has made direct contributions to their respective teams being ranked first and second in the LSC in blocks per game.

Hawley is just shy of averaging a double-double in conference play, scoring 16.7 points per game and averaging 9.9 rebounds per game, while Emili has blocked 38 shots so far in league play. Corinthian Ramsey (12.4 ppg) and Randall Broddie (10.4 ppg) are the other two Texans averaging double-digit scoring figures.


TALK ABOUT A WIN STREAK
Eastern New Mexico has finally hit their stride in the past few weeks, winning five straight games after showing multiple moments of brilliance throughout the early stages of the season. The Hounds are outscoring opponents 84.2 to 73.8 throughout those five games and are limiting their opposition to a shooting percentage of just 39.2 percent over the course of those five games.

Emili has been outstanding for the Hounds over that stretch, averaging 16.4 points per game and 11.0 rebounds per game while also totaling an outstanding 19 blocks in those five games.


WHAT DOES ALL THIS MEAN
With the current five game win streak in mind, Eastern New Mexico has vaulted itself straight into contention for multiple postseason scenarios. The Hounds have guaranteed their spot in the LSC Tournament for the second straight season, and could earn as high as a No. 2 seed barring the results of this weekend.

The Hounds have also made things interesting for themselves when it comes to postseason regional tournament possibilities, and could potentially end up in a tie in the conference standings with Texas A&M-Commerce, the team that debuted at No. 4 in the first South Central Regional Poll if they win the last three games and the Lions lose three of the next four.


BRINGING HOME THE BACON
After wrapping up the home slate with wins over Texas A&M-Kingsville and Angelo State, the Greyhounds finished the season with a 7-2 home record. It was the first time the Hounds recorded seven or more wins at home since the 2013-14 season, when Eastern went 7-4 inside Greyhound Arena and finished with a 14-13 overall record. The 77.7 percent win percentage at home this season was the best home win percentage the Hounds have had in Greyhound Arena since the 1993-94 season when ENMU finished with an overall record of 15-12 and went 9-1 in Portales.