PORTALES, N.M. – (RV) Eastern New Mexico men's basketball dropped a conference matchup to (RV) Lubbock Christian Friday night, 77-71.

Both teams battled tightly in the first half, but the Chaps came out of the halftime intermission with a will to win. LCU led by as many as 16 points in the second half behind strong efforts from Ethan Duncan (26 pts), Jaylen Thompson (14 pts), and Sean Murphy (13 pts).

"They (LCU) shot the ball extremely well," said head coach Daven Võ after the game. "They had a lot more pop than we did in that second half."

Over the first 20 minutes of action, the contest was knotted, 32-32. LCU maintained an edge offensively over ENMU as they hit 11-of-27 (40.74%) from the floor in the opening period of play. However, the energy was much different for the Chaps in the second half as they connected on 17-of-25 (68%) of their shot attempts.

Duncan came into tonight's contest as LCU's top scorer, and he showcased his skills in various facets as he made 6-of-10 from behind the arc and added a flurry of floaters and layups to finish with the game-high 26 points.

For ENMU, Treyvon Byrd had quite the start. The first-year Hound scored 16 of his 24 points in the first half, including hitting a pair of three pointers. Byrd added six rebounds and four assists on the night.

Another player who was effective for Eastern New Mexico was Jose Murillo. Murillo came into the game ranked second nationally in field goal percentage (75.3%). He hit his margin connecting on 6-of-8 shots from the floor. The junior big man earned his second career double-double with 14 points and ten rebounds. The conference's leader in blocked shots had a season-best four blocks in the defeat.

Also scoring in double figures for ENMU tonight was Jaden Clarke. The junior stepped up in the second half as he totaled 17 of his 19 points in the final period of the contest. Clarke helped mount a late rally going 3-for-4 from behind the arc, but the Chaps strong shooting could not be matched as they held onto the lead the entirety of the second half.

Eastern New Mexico will now look forward to a matchup with Midwestern State Sunday at Steve Loy Family Foundation Arena. Tip is slated for 3 p.m.