DALLAS, Texas – At halftime, it did not look like the Greyhounds would have a chance to get the matchup close against No. 12 DBU. The Patriots led 51-37 going into the intermission, but Eastern New Mexico found a way to make the closing moments of the game quite interesting.

"We attacked and did not get desperate," said head coach Daven Võ when asked about the second half adjustments. "We got downhill more and strung together stops."

Eastern New Mexico began the second half with some special energy as they got the game within five points, 58-53, over the first seven minutes of the period. The 16-7 rally was sparked by six points from Jaden Clarke and four points from Jose Murillo.

Another key difference for ENMU was the use of the bench.

"We had a couple guys come off the bench make an impact," said Võ on the players who helped the Hounds get off to a quick start. "We did a good job in forcing turnovers."

Guard Kevin Rankin had not played for more than five minutes in a conference game this season entering the contest with DBU, but he helped the program in a much-needed way in the second half. Rankin finished the outing with two points and added a steal, rebound, and assist.

Võ praised Rankin's efforts saying he is "a big part of our team." In his short time on the floor, Ranking held a +/- of +14.

The Greyhounds finished the game with 18 points off DBU turnovers and that is exactly how ENMU was able to lessen the halftime deficit. The visitor's forced the Patriots to commit seven second half turnovers.

Another player who had a second half spark was Mario Whitley who scored 16 of his 19 total points in the final period of the game. Whitley made 6-of-7 of his shot attempts from the floor, and he grabbed seven rebounds. He made a free throw with around 80 seconds remaining in the game to put the score within one point (82-81). That would be the final score for ENMU as DBU scored five-straight to seal the victory.

Cougar Downing made three three-pointers to finish with 15 total points. He has now gone three-straight games with 14+ points scored. Downing had 11 points in the first half alone. Coming into today's game, the Kansas native only needed ten points to earn 1500 total collegiate points. He accomplished the feat late in the first half of today's game. Another Greyhound who had the hot hand in the first half was Treyvon Byrd who had 12 of his 13 points in the opening period.

Both Jose Murillo and Jaden Clarke finished with a dozen points. Clarke was effective at shots inside the arc as he went 6-of-7 from that range. He missed all four of his three point shot attempts.

Eastern New Mexico played well offensively as they made 31-of-61 shots from the field. It marks five games in-a-row with the team shooting above 50%.

Typically, the rebound battle paints the picture of a contest. This time, it was a low rebounding total game for both teams as ENMU won that competition, 30-29.

The most notable difference in the game according to the final score was the total three's made by each team. DBU sank 13, while ENMU only had six. Instead, the Hounds continued to focus on the battle in the paint, winning that category, 46-32.

At the end of the game, Eastern New Mexico had two optimal chances to tie the game or take the lead. The first came off a drive to the hoop from Mario Whitley who nearly made a layup through contact. The latter came on a three-point shot from Downing that just missed off the rim. Despite a valiant second half effort from the Hounds, No. 12 DBU picked up the 87-81 win over ENMU.

ENMU men's basketball will continue the four-game road swing with a trip to Wichita Falls, Texas on Thursday evening. The rematch with Midwestern State will get the Hounds back into West division Lone Star Conference play.