PORTALES, N.M. – Eastern New Mexico men's basketball is on its longest winning streak since 2023-24 after a dominating 95-69 win over Cameron.
"It went the way we wanted to," said head coach Daven Võ after the conference opener. "Our guys broke away the game on defense. Proud of our bench who brought us a surge of energy."
Four student-athletes scored in double figures for Eastern New Mexico. Sophomore guard
Mo Austin led the way with 22 points.
Cooper Jackson (17 pts),
Treyvon Byrd (14 pts), and
Austin Abrams (10 pts) joined Austin in double digits.
The game started slow with ENMU trailing for most of the opening eight minutes of play. A couple of small runs helped establish ENMU into the contest.
It was a different game in the second half.
The Greyhounds outscored the Aggies, 61-41, over the final 20 minutes of the game. Eastern continued to shoot the ball with ease and had one of their best performances from behind the arc of the season.
One strong suit for ENMU was the fact that nine of 11 players who appeared in the game for the Hounds ended up scoring multiple field goals. The bench was much more productive on both ends of the floor compared to nonconference play results.
ENMU had 24 points off the bench.
Kobe Smith was the team's top scorer in reserve. Smith had eight points on 3-of-4 shooting from the floor. Freshman
Mika Tangermann added seven points with three made field goals.
The Hounds forced 23 turnovers and tied a season high with 14 steals.
Cooper Jackson closed the game with four steals, while
Mo Austin and
Treyvon Byrd both had three steals each.
Austin, Jackson, and Smith all connected on a pair of three's.
Kobe Smith closed out the game for ENMU off the bench as he drained two shots from behind the arc in the final period of play.
Eastern New Mexico had their most effective shooting night of the season. The Hounds hit on 37-of-66 (56.1%) of their shot attempts. ENMU was also 60% from three-point land in the second half. Eight players made 50% or more of their shot attempts on Thursday night.
ENMU has now officially tied the overall series against Cameron, 29-29. This is the third straight win for Eastern against the visitors from Lawton, Okla.
"The energy of the crowd was amazing. They are the reason why we can do what we do," said
Treyvon Byrd after the win. "We like that. It pumps us up as players. It's like when Goku was like 'give us that energy.'"
Eastern New Mexico will play another home game on December 6 at 3 p.m. against Oklahoma Christian. The first 400 attendees will get a rally towel from Summit Imaging. Tickets are available online.