PORTALES, N.M. – Eastern New Mexico men's basketball is headed to the Lone Star Conference tournament for the first time since 2019 and will open with a game against top-seeded West Texas A&M. Before the two rivals face off, please take a look at the Starting Five:
1.) Impressive Marks – ENMU has set high standards all season long. The program won twelve-straight home games, carries wins over four different tournament teams, and stands as the top field goal percentage defense in the league. This year, the program won its 1000th game, won its most games since 2003-04, and had its most conference wins as a member for the LSC.
2.) Tourney Time – The Greyhounds will be playing in their 23rd LSC tournament. The program won it all in 1993 after defeating Cameron (75-69) and Texas A&I (76-68). Eastern has not won a game in the tourney since 2003 when they beat East Central 112-79. The Greyhounds have faced West Texas A&M two times in the postseason event – 2018 (L, 86-70) and 2012 (L, 80-47). In the Hounds most recent appearance in the tourney, 2019, they fell 87-85 to Tarleton State in overtime.
3.) WT Success – West Texas A&M is seeking its sixth-straight conference tournament title. The program is an impressive 11-0 in games played at Comerica Center where they have won four of their last five championships. Over the last five years, the Buffs have gone into the event as either the No. 1 or No. 2 seed. This year they hold the outright top spot after going 20-2 in LSC action. Their only losses in the league are to Midwestern State (92-86) and Angelo State (82-77).
4.) Defensive Battles – When someone looks at the final scores of each game between Eastern New Mexico and West Texas A&M, one of the last thoughts considered would be to talk about "Defensive Battles." Well, that's actually false as defense played a major role when the Buffs and Hounds met this season. WT finished both games with four blocks and Eastern had four and three respectively in the matchups. In the game played in Canyon, Eastern outrebounded its foe by a margin of 46-27. At Greyhound Arena, ENMU only corralled 36 boards. The other number to keep an eye on is field goal shooting percentage. WT shot above 50% in both games this season – 52.5% and 51.6%. On the other side, the Greyhounds shot 41.4% and 50.8%. Despite the drastic numbers, Eastern still carries the best field goal shooting percentage (41.9%) defense in the LSC.
5.) What to Watch – Offensively the Hounds are scoring 74.3 points per contest and defensively only allowing opponents to score 70.3 per game. ENMU has made 742 baskets this year while opponents have only made 645 over the regular season.
Jahcoree Ealy (12.7 ppg),
Greg Johnson (11.4 ppg), and
Errol White (10.7 ppg) all average double-digit scoring. White leads the conference with 8.5 rebounds per contest. Two other players are near that points mark as
Eze Dike scores 9.9 per appearance and
Grehlon Easter scores 9.8 per game. Freshman
Jose Murillo is also making impressive marks with a team-best 60.8% shooting percentage on 7.4 points per contest.
