CANYON, Texas – Eastern New Mexico men's basketball battled No. 6 Colorado Mesa tightly during the first round of the NCAA DII tournament, however the Mavericks came away with the win Saturday afternoon, 95-77.

"Credit to them," commented head coach Brent Owen during the postgame press conference. "They played hard and are a well-coached group."

The top-ten CMU side was led by RMAC player of the year, Trevor Baskin. The two-way player scored a game-high 31 points and grabbed 13 rebounds. He helped the Mavs advance to the regional semifinal tomorrow against No. 5 Fort Lewis.

The matchup proved to favor the offensive end early-on as the scored read, 13-12, in favor of the Hounds by the first half under-16 media timeout.

ENMU managed to go on a 7-0 run in the middle of the opening period to create its largest lead of the day, 30-24. The six-point edge with 7:48 remaining in the half would be the biggest for Eastern the rest of the way as CMU pushed the tempo and began doing what they do best – shoot the three-pointer.

Coming into today's contest, the Mavericks had attempted 1000 total shots from deep range. Today, they connected for 8-of-23. Seven of those makes came in the first half. At the halftime intermission, CMU had managed to gain a 46-42 lead.

One thing that helped the Greyhounds win last week's Lone Star Conference tournament was their ability to score in the paint. Today, Colorado Mesa took advantage of that challenge and outscored ENMU, 54-32.

The game stayed tight up until close to the five-minute mark in the final period of play. After being down by as much as 12 points in the second half, ENMU locked the score within three at three different points. The final opportunity came with 6:31 left when the score read, 76-73, in CMU's favor.

ENMU managed to force two turnovers over the next two Maverick's possessions, but missed opportunities opened the door for Colorado Mesa to finish the game on a 19-4 run.

One of the brightest spots offensively for Eastern New Mexico came from senior guard Greg Johnson. He scored 22 points and added five rebounds.

"This season meant a lot," said Johnson when asked about the past year during the postgame press conference. "I feel blessed."

Junior guard Tre'Von Love was a key component in ENMU's stretch of play in the second half that saw the group get within three points. The St. Louis, Mo. native had 12 points in his first appearance in an NCAA tournament game.

"I want to thank the fans for coming," said Love on the crowd at the game. "We take pride in giving them a show."

The final box score lists 669 fans in attendance, but the atmosphere definitely sounded like a crowd in the thousands. The Portales and Eastern New Mexico community provided a "collegiate basketball environment" according to head coach Brent Owen. He continued to thank the fans for buying into the program.

The loss marks the end of the 2023-24 season for Eastern New Mexico. Several records were broken including the scoring record (90.0), most 100-point games (12), and most conference wins (15).

Eastern also saw three Greyhounds (Jahcoree Ealy, Greg Johnson, and Conrad Luczynski) earn postseason recognition with several honors still to be named.

In total, five players competed in their final game for the green and silver. They include Niko Bossinakis, Jason Holman, Lyron Bennett, Jahcoree Ealy, and Greg Johnson.