PORTALES, N.M. – The NCAA DII men's basketball tournament begins Saturday with (6) Eastern New Mexico men's basketball facing (3) Colorado Mesa. Before the Greyhounds meet the Mavericks, please take a look at the Starting Five:

1.) History Made: For just the second time in program history, Eastern New Mexico won the Lone Star Conference tournament championship. They did so with wins over Angelo State (103-84), Cameron (91-81), and Lubbock Christian (91-88). The title guaranteed ENMU a trip to the 2024 NCAA DII tournament. This is the third time (1993, 2004) ENMU has made it to this postseason event.

2.) Tourney Team: Three Greyhounds made the all-LSC tournament team. Jahcoree Ealy highlighted the group by scoring 62 total points over the course of three games. Against the Rams, he posted 18 points on 6-of-8 shooting with five steals, four rebounds, and three assists. He added 23 points and six rebounds versus the Chaps and then helped ENMU win the championship with 21 points and three blocks. Greg Johnson is on a ten-game double digit scoring streak as he posted games of 23, 14, and 18 points during the LSC tournament. Lyron Bennett earned honors after draining the championship-clinching three-pointer. Bennett shot 13-of-18 (.722) from the floor and finished with 32 total points.

3.) March Is Fun: For the third time, the Greyhounds will appear in the NCAA tournament. The first time ENMU made the event, they beat Missouri Southern, 76-73, to advance to the regional final. In the next round, Eastern New Mexico lost to Washburn, 79-78. In 2004, the Hounds made another trip to postseason play falling to Northwest Missouri, 77-57. This year, the Hounds go toe-to-toe with Colorado Mesa in the opening game.

4.) Looking Into Mesa: The Mavericks will be a tough opponent for Eastern New Mexico as they finished the conference season, 21-1. They have played five teams from the Lone Star Conference and are a combined 3-2 in those games. CMU is competing in the NCAA tourney for the fifth-straight season. In the history of Colorado Mesa, they are 3-10 in the NCAA postseason. The Mavericks rank sixth in the nation and have secured the most wins (27) in program history. The program leads the conference in assists (19.4), effective field goal percentage (.597), fastbreak points (16.81), blocks (4.2), field goal percentage (.503), field goal percentage defense (42.5), rebound margin (7.7), rebounds (38.84), scoring (86.6), and three's per game (11.6). The team's top scorer is Trevor Baskin putting up 17.9 points a game, including nine double-doubles. They live-and-breathe from the three point arc as they have attempted 1000 in 2023-24.

5.) High Marks: Eastern New Mexico has proven to be one of the top offensive teams in 2023-24 based on effective shot selection and the ability to share the basketball. ENMU is second in the nation in three point percentage (.421), fifth in fastbreak points (18.10), seventh in free throw attempts (26.0), eighth in scoring offense (90.4), and tenth in field goal percentage (.504). Eastern continues to remain consistent nationally in other statistical categories. Some notable stats include fourteenth in rebounds (40.32), fourteenth in blocks (4.6), nineteenth in assists (17.0), nineteenth in assist/turnover ratio (1.44), and nineteenth in effective field goal percentage (.561).