CANYON, Texas – It took 50 minutes to decide a winner between two rivals, Thursday night. West Texas A&M came out on top over Eastern New Mexico for a 16th-straight time, 95-90 OT2.

"Proud of our guys fighting back to get a ten-point lead after being down nine at the half," said head coach Daven Võ after the game. "Now it really hurts to give up the lead with just three minutes to go. This team is still getting better and as much as it pains us to lose, we are a confident group going into the conference tournament."

West Texas A&M led by as many as 12 points in the opening half thanks to some spectacular three-point shooting from Narit Chotikavanic and tough plays from Ahamed Mohammed. Chotikavanic made five of his six total three's in the first half of the contest, which helped the Buffs establish a nine point edge going into the final period of play.

The story for ENMU in the first half came on Jose Murillo's ability to create contact and get to the foul line. He was a big reason why the Hounds shot 15 times from the charity stripe over the first 20 minutes.

Going into the final half, the energy favored WT. However, the Greyhounds paced their way and gained the lead (60-58) for the first time since the early moments of the first half with just over ten minutes remaining in the game. Little did the teams know it would be 20 more minutes of game play from this moment.

Another big push from the Hounds came moments later. ENMU charged to a 9-0 run with key baskets from a pair of first-year Greyhounds. Austin Abrams and Mo Austin had major momentum shifting plays to give ENMU a double digit advantage.

WT caught a second glimpse with around three minutes left to play as they closed out regulation on a 12-2 run over the final 3:07. With under one minute left, the Buffs had the ball and ended up missing the potential game-tying three pointer. A West Texas A&M offensive rebound established a new possession for the program and the team's hottest shooter was fouled while attempting a three-point shot. Chotikavanic proceeded to make all three free throws.

With the game tied, 77-77, ENMU held the possession for a brief moment before a turnover. In the Hounds favor, WT missed the potential game-winner and moved the game into overtime. The moment marked the second time in-a-row with both of these programs going into OT against each other.

WT held the lead the entirety of the first overtime after making a quick field goal just 18 seconds in. Eastern managed to tie the game with a pair of free throws with 43 seconds left and had a shot attempt from Mo Austin to win it at the buzzer.

Instead, the game moved into an additional overtime period.

This time, Eastern had the advantage over the first part of the second overtime with Jose Murillo adding a quick bucket and going 1-of-2 from the free throw line on a late foul.

The game quickly looked like the first half towards the latter part of the second overtime period as Mohammed and Chotikavanic both hit three's for WT. The lead shifted in West Texas A&M's favor and they held on to win by knocking down free throws over the final two minutes.

Mohammed played light's out for WT as he had 39 points on 11-of-26 shooting. The Buffs key returner drew nine fouls on the night, which allowed him to shoot 17 free throws.

Eastern New Mexico had one of its better outings of the season from bench players. Austin had 19 points as he needed to play 39 minutes. He had a team-high nine made field goals.

Jose Murillo had a double double. He closed out the game with 19 points and ten rebounds. The big man from Chihuahua, Mexico frustrated the Buffs' home faithful for his ability to force contact down low. The conference's leader in blocks added two to his name tonight.

Jaden Clarke was effective in limited minutes as he scored 15 points on 7-of-11 shooting. He was third on the team with six rebounds tonight.

Austin Abrams had arguably his brightest outing for ENMU this season. The DI transfer put up 13 points on 6-of-11 shooting and a team-high three steals.

Second chances proved to be a killer for Eastern tonight. West Texas A&M won the second chance scoring battle, 21-10. WT finished with 15 offensive rebounds in the win.

Eastern was limited to under 50% shooting for a second-straight game. The Greyhounds made 32-of-71 (45.1%) from the floor. They only managed to go 3-of-10 (30%) in the two overtime periods combined.

Eastern New Mexico closes out the 2024-25 regular season with 13 conference wins. They now set their sights on the 2025 Lone Star Conference tournament set for March 7-9. More information on opponents and seeding will be released Saturday night. Please keep up with www.goeasternathletics.com for more information.