PORTALES, N.M. – Eastern New Mexico men's basketball is back at Steve Loy Family Foundation Arena for a Friday night battle with Navajo Tech. Before the Hounds home game, please take a look at the Starting Five:

1.) Winning on the Road: Eastern New Mexico pulled off a crucial road victory against Texas A&M-Kingsville Wednesday evening. The Greyhounds managed to keep control of the matchup and improve their conference standing to 3-2. Eastern saw six different players score in double figures, including freshman Mo Austin with a career-high mark. ENMU tied the rebounding battle, 31-31, but still managed to win back-to-back games when doing so. The other game they won during the 2024-25 season where they tied the rebounding battle was versus Cameron. ENMU is now 3-1 against teams from the east division of the Lone Star Conference. The Greyhounds also stayed aggressive on defense with four blocks and three steals.

2.) More Mo: Mo Austin had a breakout road trip. The freshman needed to step up to the plate in both games for Eastern New Mexico. Against Texas A&M International he posted a then-career high mark of ten points. He stayed on the floor for 39 minutes and was a key reason why the game went into overtime as he hit some much-needed free throws in crunch time. Austin continued his aggressive play on Wednesday versus Texas A&M-Kingsville. In the win, he scored a new career-high mark of 23 points on 6-of-8 shooting. He hit 9-of-10 shots from the charity stripe and added a rebound and an assist. Austin has started six of ten games for ENMU this season.

3.) Jumping for Jose: The junior forward better known as "El Gigante" had an excellent week for ENMU. The Chihuahua, Mexico native scored 17 points and grabbed four rebounds in a win over the Javelinas. He added a team-best two blocks and hit a much-needed seven free throws on 12 attempts. Murillo posted that performance after an impressive 28-point and six rebound outing versus the Dustdevils. He played a career-high 43 minutes in the overtime battle and had three blocks. He currently leads the conference and is second nationally with a 74.6% field goal percentage.

4.) Bench Support: One of the key aspects of the 2024-25 squad is the team bench. Head coach Daven Võ praised the bench for the extra support they provided during the team's victory over Texas A&M-Kingsville. The support from the bench was also noticed by teammates Mo Austin and Jose Murillo who spoke on that very topic after the win. Austin remarked on the energy and support and how it felt like a home game with his teammates providing that extra cheer. One player who has made a major impact off the bench this season is Jaden Clarke. The Bronx, N.Y. native has appeared in all ten games for ENMU and holds one start. Clarke averages 12.1 points per game and grabs 4.9 rebounds per outing. In the win over the Javelinas, he had his second best scoring game with 19 points. He hit almost every shot he took. The Greyhound newcomer shot 8-of-9 from the floor and hit all three of his three-point shot attempts. It was the second time this season (vs. MSU Denver) that he has gone a perfect 3-for-3 from behind the arc. Clarke has scored in double figures five times this year.

5.) History Made: The last time ENMU faced Navajo Tech, fans witnessed program history. The team posted a 133-33 win over NTU to open home play this year. The victory saw a program high in points scored (133) along with other impressive marks throughout the box score. Cougar Downing (18), Jose Murillo (18), Jaden Clarke (17), Andrija Maric (16), Mario Whitley (15), and Brandon Kehres (14) all scored in double figures in the win. ENMU hit 58-of-89 of their shots from the floor, including 12-of-23 from three point range. The Greyhounds earned a whopping 50 rebounds, 43 assists, and 26 steals. All fourteen ENMU student-athletes scored in the game. The most consistent scorer for Navajo Tech was Ira Mayweather who finished with a game-high 20 points. He sunk two three's in the contest.