ALPINE, Texas – For the first time in 2024-25, Eastern New Mexico men's basketball has won four-straight games. The Greyhounds avenged an earlier season loss by beating Sul Ross State Saturday afternoon, 97-84.

"Our defense is getting better and that was a big change from the last game," said head coach Daven Võ when asked about today's win. "It was another chance to play a road game and prove ourselves."

The Hounds most definitely proved themselves as they became the fifth program to earn 12 conference wins this season. ENMU did so behind a career-high 32 points from Mario Whitley.

"We stayed the course and tried to find the best shot for the team," said Whitley when asked about shot selection. "It's crunch time and we are ready to get back in the lab Monday to prepare for the next two."

Whitley played a team-high 39 minutes and was very effective for the Hounds throughout the contest. He made 9-of-15 of his shot attempts and came through clutch making 14-of-17 from the charity stripe. The Saginaw, Mich. is usually the one gaining the most rebounds, but those duties were spread throughout the whole team as he only had three on the day.

Jose Murillo finished with a team-high seven rebounds on a day where he didn't need to score at his typical rate. Murillo posted seven points, three assists, and a block.

Once again, the Hounds were excellent shooting from the floor. They made 32-of-61 (52.5%) from the field to better their previous average, which ranked in the top five nationally coming into today's contest.

ENMU's defense forced 20 turnovers with 13 total steals. The conference's leader in steals, Cooper Jackson, finished with five total in the contest. It is the sixth time this season that he has posted five or more steals in a contest.

Treyvon Byrd was a menace on defense for Eastern. The junior totaled four steals marking his eleventh game with multi-steals. Byrd was nearly perfect from the floor shooting 7-of-8 for 18 points.

Also scoring in double figures for ENMU was Jaden Clarke (12 pts) and Cougar Downing (11 pts). Clarke joined Byrd as the only Hounds to make two three-point shots today. Downing had one three-pointer and added five rebounds and a block in the win.

Another player who was effective off the bench was Austin Abrams. The transfer guard had eight points for a second-straight game.

The game saw 45 total fouls called and that meant that both teams had lots of attempts from the charity stripe. Eastern struggled from that department going 27-of-38 (71.1%)

Both teams chose to play inside as ENMU won the battle in the paint, 46-40.

The playoff picture is painted a little more clearly as the Hounds enter the final three games of conference play. ENMU currently sits in solo fifth in conference standings. They still have St. Edwards (6th), St. Mary's (3rd), and West Texas A&M (7th) remaining. Eight teams in the LSC have 11 or more wins in conference play. The ninth-place team (Angelo State) holds a 10-9 record in league action. A loss by the Rams or a win by ENMU would be beneficial for the Hounds aspirations to make it to three-straight LSC tourneys. ASU still has DBU (1st), UT Tyler (13th), and UTPB (8th) on their schedule.

Tickets for the 2025 LSC basketball tournament are now available on the conference's webpage.

Eastern New Mexico will host St. Edward's Thursday night at 7 p.m. inside Steve Loy Family Foundation Arena.