PORTALES, N.M. – Eastern New Mexico men's basketball beat Dallas Baptist University, 73-63, to even its Lone Star Conference record to 2-2.
"I'm really proud of the team and how we bounced back and fought after going 0-2 on the road," said junior
Jahcoree Ealy on his feelings after the game. "It's really big time. It showed a lot from my teammates."
Eastern got off to a nice start with a pair of free throws from
Jose Murillo and a layup from
Jahcoree Ealy. The lead grew to 13-5 with a trio (
Malique Oates,
Grehlon Easter, and
Greg Johnson) of Hounds supporting on the offensive end.
The Patriots began clawing their way back into the ballgame and took a brief lead with 1:21 remaining, but ENMU found themselves with a 31-29 advantage going into the intermission.
Offensively, the Greyhounds came out of the break with five-straight points. DBU continued to stay in the game with three made shots from behind the arc in a span of three minutes to hold a 44-43 lead with 8:46 to go.
That's when ENMU broke out with a 6-0 run with buckets from
Eze Dike and
Errol White and a pair of free throws from Easter. Again, the Patriots hit two shots from deep to hold the lead with 6:10 in the contest.
The final advantage for DBU came with 5:15 to go as Las Cruces, N.M. native Ricky Lujan drilled two free throws.
The Hounds finished the final five minutes with a 22-11 showing to grab the ten-point victory. The last time ENMU beat Dallas Baptist came on Feb. 13, 2020 in Greyhound Arena as they muscled toward a 79-72 win.
On the glass, Eastern outrebounded the Patriots, 52-36.
"That stat is really important to me," said head coach
Brent Owen on the team corralling 50+ rebounds in two-straight games. "It's a testament to how well you are defending. In these two games we caused those teams to miss so many shots and we are doing a good job of cleaning it up."
Two players notched double-doubles on the night as
Errol White went for 11 points and ten rebounds and
Jahcoree Ealy put up 14 points with 12 boards.
"Jahcoree finally broke out of his shell this week. Just really happy for him that he finally stepped up and played how he is capable of," said Owen on big performances from a pair of Greyhounds. "Errol brings it every night."
The game was ENMU's Family Day match and saw youth from all over the Portales and Clovis greater communities watch the Hounds stay undefeated at Greyhound Arena.
"I enjoyed the crowd," said Ealy after the game. "The energy they gave us – we needed that. Especially down the stretch when we made some big plays they gave us some energy to put the game away at the end."
It will be thirteen days until Eastern fans will get the opportunity to see the program in person again as the team takes a short break for the holidays. The next game will be Dec. 30 at Greyhound Arena with tip set for 7:30 p.m. Those who bring a clothing donation to the match will be given free entry for both the women's and men's game.