PORTALES, N.M. – Eastern New Mexico men's basketball only has four more games left in the 2023-24 regular season. Before the Greyhounds host Oklahoma Christian and the University of Arkansas-Fort Smith, please take a look at the Starting Five:

1.) Road Wins Matter: Eastern New Mexico's four-point win over Lubbock Christian on the road last Saturday marked the first time a Greyhound program has won at least four conference games away from Greyhound Arena. The last time they accomplished that feat came during the 2017-18 season when they went 4-8 on the road. The 2003-04 campaign is the last time Eastern has won five conference road contests. Against the Chaps, ENMU connected on 33-of-61 (54.1%) of their shot attempts and had a season-best 23 points from forward Mario Whitley.

2.) Milestone Moments: A major highlight came for two Greyhound hoopers over the week. Both Greg Johnson and Mario Whitley hit the 1000 point club. Johnson had cleared the mark after scoring 35 points versus Cameron while Whitley accomplished the feat in the win over LCU. Four different ENMU student-athletes have hit a major point mark this season. This season, Johnson is second on the team averaging 16.1 points per outing while Whitley is third with 11.2 points a contest. Both players have appeared in 22 of the program's 24 games during the 2023-24 season.

3.) At The Top: The Greyhounds lead the Lone Star Conference in three major statistical categories this year. ENMU is posting 16.8 assists per game, 24.8 free throw attempts per game, and a 41.7% three-point percentage. The team is second among LSC foes in several other categories. Some of the more notable include blocks per game (4.5), field goal percentage (49%), rebounds per game (39.25), and scoring offense (86.9). These marks have aided the Hounds to a tied for fifth spot in the conference standings.

4.) Fighting for a Spot: Oklahoma Christian comes into Greyhound Arena with a slim chance of earning a bid to the Lone Star Conference tournament. The Eagles are in prime position to earn a bid if they can earn two road wins in the Land of Enchantment this weekend. OC holds impressive wins over Black Hills State, St. Edward's, and Texas A&M International. Oklahoma Christian leads the league in field goal percentage defense (41.3%) and defensive rebounds per game (27.52). Two areas the team has struggled in are the amount of made three's per game (5.5) and the number of steals earned per game (5.0). The team does have one of the best shooters from the charity stripe as Moun'tae Edmundson connects on 85.6% of his shots from the free throw line.

5.) Win Needed: Arkansas-Fort Smith has struggled to earn wins in the Lone Star Conference this season. The Lions have mustered a four-win campaign in conference play so far with three games left on their schedule. UAFS is in their final year of membership in the LSC. One of the team's strengths are bench points per game (30.23). One of their key players is Payton Brown who connects on two three-pointers per game. A few struggle areas to keep an eye on include blocks per game (1.4), free throw percentage (67.3), three's attempted per game (17.8), and turnovers per game (14.0). The program has won two of its last three games after starting conference play with seven-straight losses. They swept Texas A&M-Kingsville this year. The Lions will play Western New Mexico Thursday before heading to Portales for Saturday's contest.