PORTALES, N.M. – Just five days after an improbable, 77-76, victory over Lubbock Christian, Eastern New Mexico men's basketball takes the road to Oklahoma Christian and University of Arkansas Fort Smith for a pair of contests in Lone Star Conference action. Before the Hounds set east on I-40, please take a look at the Starting Five:
 
1.) Nothing's Impossible: College basketball fans learned a valuable lesson Saturday evening at Greyhound Arena. Down by five points with twelve seconds remaining in a battle with the Chaps, Eastern's Błażej Czerniewicz banked in a deep three-point shot to put his team within two points with six seconds left. On the inbounds play, LCU turned the ball over and ENMU regained possession. On the quick play, Jahcoree Ealy took the ball into the paint and got fouled during a shot attempt. He made the first free throw with a classic shimmy motion. On the second try, the ball grazed the rim and fell towards the hardwood. Czerniewicz secured the ball, looked up, and hit a layup with 0.4 seconds remaining. A last chance heave by the Chaps came up short and Eastern New Mexico came away with the heart-racing, 77-76, result.

2.) On A Roll: Five of Czerniewicz's ten points came in the final six seconds, but his impressive play has improved greatly and continued to shine over the last four games. In that span, he has recorded 11.8 ppg and 6.8 rpg over the previous four matchups. For reference, he is averaging just 6.6 ppg and 3.8 rpg in his freshman campaign. The Poland native is impressive with his ball handling as he has committed just three turnovers in the last seven contests.

3.) In The Hunt: With just four games remaining in the season, ENMU sits in seventh in the Lone Star Conference standings. With a 10-8 record in conference play, the maximum win total for the Hounds is 14 and the minimum is 10. Today, there are eleven programs who can hit the minimum mark. The best seed Eastern could earn is the fourth spot depending on results from LCU, TAMUK, and StMU. The clinching scenario may be too difficult to predict, but it is noteworthy to see that as of Thursday the range is between the 4 and 11 spot. A further examination of this will continue after the Greyhounds matchup with Oklahoma Christian.

4.) First For Everything: Saturday will mark the first visit to the University of Arkansas Fort Smith for Eastern New Mexico. The Hounds hold a 2-0 series advantage with the most recent win coming a year ago when the Lions visited Greyhound Arena. Overall, Oklahoma Christian holds the 5-3 advantage over ENMU, but the Greyhounds won the most recent meeting in 2022 when the two programs battled in a tight overtime thriller in Portales.

5.) On Top: ENMU leads the LSC in the following statistical categories - field goal percentage defense (41.5%), rebound margin (4.8), and rebounds per game (37.33). Errol White is the conference's top rebounder grabbing 9.0 per game, including an impressive 5.6 defensive rebounds per contest. Jose Murillo ranks fourth in the league with 1.3 blocks per appearance.