PORTALES, N.M. – Eastern New Mexico men's basketball is set for a matchup with Lubbock Christian Saturday afternoon. Before the Greyhounds and Chaps meetup, please take a look at the Starting Five:

1.) Win For The Hounds: Eastern New Mexico earned a tough 70-69 win over (RV) Midwestern State Thursday night. The Greyhounds were led by Cougar Downing who scored 19 points with five made three pointers. Mario Whitley and Treyvon Byrd both had 13 points for ENMU. Coming into the contest, six different Hounds are averaging double digit scoring marks. Eastern shot 27-of-53 (50.9%) from the floor, including going 9-for-20 (45%) from behind the arc. ENMU crashed the boards picking up 26 defensive rebounds. Another positive sign for the Hounds was their ability to dish out the ball by finishing with 16 total assists.

2.) Two Stops: After the game, head coach Daven Võ expressed the importance of junior Treyvon Byrd down the stretch. The first year Greyhound made two crucial defensive plays in the closing 15 seconds to help vault ENMU to victory in Wichita Falls. Byrd had a team-high nine rebounds and added two assists, a block, and a steal. He has gone two-straight games with nine total rebounds. Byrd was the only Greyhound to shoot multiple free throws. He finished 5-of-6 from the charity stripe. He was an offensive difference maker in the last matchup against LCU as he scored 24 points on 8-of-11 shooting.

3.) Raining Three's: Eastern New Mexico has hit 32 three pointers over the last four games. It is the most three's hit over a four game period this season for ENMU. The most deep shots hit against a conference foe this season came versus Oklahoma Christian when they hit ten total three's.  Earlier this year, Eastern hit six three pointers on a season-high 26 attempts. Cougar Downing has made a three pointer in 16 of 17 games this season. He has 11 games with multiple three's hit in 2024-25. Mario Whitley has made a three pointer in three-straight games. Before the matchup with UT Tyler he had just three total three pointers. Since then, he has made six three pointers.

4.) So Serious Series: Lubbock Christian leads the overall series against Eastern New Mexico, 38-32. The Chaps snapped the Hounds four-game winning streak four weeks ago in Portales. During the 2023-24 season, ENMU beat LCU three times, including once to win the LSC tournament championship. Eastern is 10-21 in games played in Lubbock against LCU. The two teams met in Lubbock in February 2024 with Eastern New Mexico pulling off an 88-84 victory. The win was their first against the Chaps in Lubbock since 2017. Five straight games in the series have been decided by single digits.

5.) Who To Watch: LCU's sophomore guard Ethan Duncan has scored nine or more points in all four games he has played against ENMU. Two of those matchups have resulted in 20+ points for Duncan. Last time out, the Chaps sharpshooter put up 26 points on 10-of-15 shooting, including connecting on six total three pointers. Also scoring in double digits for Lubbock Christian in the game earlier this season was Jaylen Thompson (14 pts) and Sean Murphy (13 pts). In total, Lubbock Christian made 14 three pointers against Eastern New Mexico. Murphy is one of the team's toughest rebounders. He had eight total rebounds versus Eastern. Lastly, Najeeb Muhammad is one of the best ball handlers in the Lone Star Conference. He dished out nine assists in the contest in Portales.