PORTALES, N.M. – Eastern New Mexico men's basketball played their final home game of the 2024-25 season. The Greyhounds held the lead for 35:10, but ended up losing the contest to (RV) St. Mary's, 77-72.

"A lot of credit goes to St. Mary's," said head coach Daven Võ after the game. "They (StMU) played hard, and we didn't make enough plays down the stretch."

The Hounds held an advantage as large as 13 points late in the first half, but then the Rattlers gained some momentum from a handful of ENMU turnovers and missed free throws. At half, the home side held a 35-27 edge.

Over the opening five minutes of the second half, StMU clawed their way within two points (47-45) and the game stayed within two possessions for the next six minutes of play. Cougar Downing hit a three-point shot with 8:44 remaining to put ENMU up 61-53. Directly after the high-momentum shot, a flagrant foul was called on the other end of the floor.

In less than 30 seconds, the score shifted to 61-59 after the Rattlers made quick consecutive baskets.

For the rest of the way until the closing seconds, the game stayed within a possession. St. Mary's took the lead (74-72) with 1:31 remaining and kept it for the remainder of the contest.

Both teams committed 12 turnovers, but the ones down the stretch for ENMU came to hurt the team in the closing minutes. Eastern ended up going scoreless for the final 3:49 of the contest. StMU ended the game on a 9-0 run.

Overall, three players scored in double figures for Eastern. Those included Mario Whitley (19 pts), Cougar Downing (14 pts), and Treyvon Byrd (14 pts). Byrd attacked the glass well with eight total rebounds to lead the team. However, StMU shined as a team in rebounding with them winning the battle, 47-32. In total, 22 of those rebounds came on the offensive end for StMU allowing them to score 12 second chance points.

Overall, ENMU was held to 24-of-53 (45.3%) from the floor.

The Greyhounds will now prepare for the regular season finale on the road in Canyon. The game is set for next Thursday.

Before the game, Eastern recognized two seniors. Mario Whitley and Cougar Downing played their final game at Steve Loy Family Foundation Arena. Whitley is one of the conference's top scorers and rebounders. Downing leads the conference in total three point field goal percentage.