The Eastern New Mexico men’s basketball pushed their record over .500 on the season with a 78-73 victory over Regis on Wednesday afternoon.
Junior Isaiah Murphy buried a three-point basket with 19 seconds remaining on the clock to break a 73-73 tie and then converted on two free-throw attempts just three seconds later to seal the first Eastern New Mexico (5-4, 2-0 LSC) victory over Regis (6-5, 3-2 RMAC) since Jan. 17, 1977. Eastern hung tough despite being outscored 37-to-32 in the second half to pick up a key road win against a Regis team that received three votes in the most recent D2SIDA South Central Regional Poll.
Murphy’s three-point make broke a 73-73 tie that was created in large part by the effort of junior Darius Sawyer, who scored eight straight points beginning at the 5:22 mark of the second half to keep pace with a Regis squad that picked up the pace offensively after a slow first half. Sawyer’s incredible run was highlighted by a highlight-reel dunk at the 2:33 mark between multiple defenders and helped guide him to 14 points on 5-of-8 shooting.
Sophomore Devin Pullum provided a key moment in the game when he drew a foul with 13 seconds left on the clock right near mid-court following the three-pointer from Murphy that prevented the Rangers from getting a shot or calling a timeout. The Hounds then successfully in-bounded the ball moments later to Murphy, who was fouled with 11 seconds remaining and made both free throw attempts, ensuring the Hound’s victory.
Pullum led the way offensively for the Hounds with 18 points, 15 of which came in the first half during which the Hounds made 16-of-30 shots as a team to open up a 46-36 lead at the halftime break. Eastern New Mexico proved to be relentless in the first half, consistently forcing ill-advised shots from three-point land from the Rangers.
Regis made just 5-of-18 attempts from three-point range in the first half and scored just eight points inside the paint, while the Hounds made a living in the heart of the Ranger defense, scoring 22 points in the paint. The key Regis run to get themselves back in the ball game began with just under 13 minutes left on the clock, and saw the home squad rattle off 10 unanswered points to climb back to within one point at 60-59.
Back-to-back lay-ups from Christian Little finally evened up and then drew ahead the score for Regis with 3:27 remaining, but the inability to contain Sawyer allowed the Hounds to hang around and then make the shots when it counted to pull out the victory.
The victory makes it four in a row for the Hounds and matches their longest win streak from last season.
“Today was a really big victory for our program against a Regis team that historically has been a top regional team,” head coach Tres Segler said, “I’m proud of the way our guys reacted to adversity and overcame when they made their offensive runs. We played very physical and I’m proud of the way we rebounded the basketball all game.”
Senior Chukuka Emili served as the third Greyhound in double digits, totaling 12 points and seven rebounds on the afternoon. Eastern New Mexico converted on 27-of-59 (45.8 percent) attempts from the field and also held the rebound advantage (38-to-37) at the conclusion of the contest.
Eastern New Mexico will be back out on the court on Dec. 29 in Oklahoma City, Okla., where they will take on Oklahoma Christian at 2 p.m. looking for their fifth straight victory and third consecutive non-conference road win.
