PORTALES, N.M. – Eastern New Mexico men's basketball plays their final home game of the 2024-25 season against (RV) St. Mary's Saturday. Before the Greyhounds face the Rattlers, please take a look at the Starting Five:

1.) Five In-A-Row: Eastern New Mexico has won five-straight games. They beat St. Edward's Thursday night by double digits, 96-85. Five players scored in double figures in the effort. ENMU shot the ball extremely well in the victory. The Hounds converted on 38-of-70 (54.3%) from the floor. Mario Whitley was the team's leading scorer with 27 points. Jaden Clarke had an impressive outing scoring 18 points off the bench. Eastern outscored SEU on fastbreak opportunities, 22-2. The lead never changed during the entirety of the contest.

2.) Celebrating Whitley: Eastern New Mexico will recognize two seniors before the men's game Saturday. Mario Whitley is in his second year with the Hounds after transferring from Seward County Community College. Whitley has been a staple to the starting lineup for Eastern. He has helped ENMU win 13+ conference games in back-to-back seasons for the first time in program history. The Saginaw, Mich. native leads the LSC with ten total double doubles. In two years, he has played in 54 games making 52 total starts. He has combined for 711 points and 430 rebounds. He was also a major contributor to the LSC tournament championship team that won the title for the first time in 31 years. This season, Whitley has made a team-high 134 total field goals.

3.) Congrats to Cougar: In his lone season with Eastern New Mexico, Cougar Downing has helped establish the guard play for the Hounds. He has started 23 games for the Hounds and averages 28.9 minutes per contest. Downing leads the LSC with a 46.9% mark from three point land. He contributes 12.5 points per game and is one of the better shooters from the charity stripe connecting on 77.5% of his shots. He has helped the program score 89.5 points per contest. Downing has scored 10+ points in nine of the last ten games. He has made a three pointer in every game except during a road game versus Texas A&M International.

4.) LSC Outlook: (RV) St. Mary's sits in a tie for third in conference standings. Eastern New Mexico is in fifth in the LSC. The Rattlers will play two games against St. Edward's next week. ENMU will only have West Texas A&M left on their schedule. StMU was picked to finish 12th in the preseason poll and ENMU was selected 7th. Both teams are ranked higher than their original projections. Both teams are also in consideration to make it to the national tournament after the NCAA released regional rankings on Wednesday. StMU has already clinched their ticket to Frisco, Texas for the LSC tournament. ENMU is nearly locked in for postseason play and can guarantee it with a win over the Rattlers.

5.) Scouting StMU: St. Mary's attempts the most free throws per game (25.4) among conference foes. The program plays effectively in the paint. They lead the conference with 39.48 rebounds per contest and are fourth in the league with 3.6 blocks per game. StMU does not shoot many three point shots. Instead, they rank last in the LSC with just 17.0 attempts per game and only connect on 29.4% of those attempts. One of their better players, Damani Claxton, ranks second in the LSC with 17.4 points per game. They are also led by Lachlan Bofinger who posts a conference-high 9.9 rebounds per outing. St. Mary's has only lost two games to west division foes this season.