AUSTIN, Texas – Eastern New Mexico men's basketball fell to St. Edward's, 91-63, on the opening night of conference play.

"St. Edward's played about as well as you can play," said head coach Brent Owen on the Hilltoppers execution Thursday night. "Credit to them for their preparation and execution of their game plan."

Grehlon Easter scored the first seven points for ENMU to give the team a 7-5 lead 3:26 into the game.

Despite the solid start from Easter and the Hounds, that would be the final lead for Eastern as SEU began to find success shooting in the paint and forcing turnovers.

Over the first 20 minutes, the Hilltoppers shot 21-for-36 from the field on 35 possessions with 16 of those makes inside the paint.

They also forced ten turnovers to take a 49-28 lead into the break.

Eze Dike found early success in the second period as he scored 11 points over the first 6:34, but SEU continued to respond with every possession and led by 22 at that point, 66-44.

Even with a large lead, St. Edward's continued to pressure ENMU defensively and did not make it easy for the team to score.

The Hilltoppers shot an impressive 35-for-58 (60.3%) from the floor and outrebounded the Greyhounds, 34-26. Pacing SEU was Mason Hix who scored 18 points and added five rebounds.

Senior guard Dike led all scorers with 20, but it was not enough to carry the Hounds to a win on the road. Easter finished with 18 points and Errol White added seven points and seven rebounds.

"This was enlightening for our team. We have twelve guys who just experienced the Lone Star Conference for the first time," said Owen on the first matchup in conference play. "You can talk about how good the league is and how good we need to be all you want as a coach, but to experience it is the best teacher. I expect this game to help us in the long run."

ENMU continues its LSC road trip with a game against St. Mary's on Saturday. Fans can watch the game on the Lone Star Conference Digital Network or by tuning into 105.9 FM KSEL Country to listen to Doc Elder's call of Greyhound basketball.