Game Recap: Men’s Basketball | 2/1/2020 6:45:00 PM | Ryan Shumaker
Hounds Unable to Close Out Mustangs, Fall 81-76
Eastern New Mexico fell by a final score of 81-76 to Western New Mexico inside Greyhound Arena on Saturday afternoon in a tightly contested match-up between the two rivals.
The scoring differential never reached double-digits as the Hounds were unable to capitalize on an eight point lead with 13:35 remaining in the contest. Western New Mexico regained the lead with just over four minutes left at 67-66 and never look back, escaping Portales with the win.
Juniors Jose Serrano and Garrick Sherrod each reached double-digits with Serrano leading the way with 13 points and Sherrod totaling 12. Sherrod notched seven of his 12 points from the free-throw line on an evening in which the Hounds made 26-of-36 attempts from the line as a team.
The Hounds couldn’t manage to pull away from the Mustangs despite pushing their lead out to at least eight points six different occasions throughout the contest. The Greyhounds put the pressure on Western New Mexico right before the halftime break with a 10-2 run that was sparked by a switch to a full court zone that effectively disrupted the Mustang offense and allowed Eastern to build a 37-29 lead with 3:50 remaining in the opening half.
The Mustangs responded to the pressure and knocked down three baskets from three-point range in the final minutes to negate the late-half run for the Hounds and entered the halftime break trailing just 45-42. Eastern continued to pressure the Mustangs early in the second half and once again built the lead back up to eight at 57-49, but couldn’t manage to pull away as Western New Mexico finally regained the lead with just over four minutes to play.
The Hounds briefly regained the lead with 2:35 after senior Darius Sawyer made two free throws to push the score to 72-71, but two consecutive buckets from the Mustangs flipped the score in favor of the opposition at 75-72 with 1:27 remaining. Junior Devin Pullum converted a quick bucket to draw the score down to 75-74 with 22 seconds remaining, but the Hounds failed to prevent a bucket on the ensuing possession to allow the Mustangs to extend the lead back out to three points.
After both teams alternated two free throw makes each, Pullum’s three-point attempt to tie the game with seven seconds remaining was unsuccessful, ultimately preventing the Hounds from the comeback after Western sunk both free throws with five seconds on the clock.
Pullum was one of seven Hounds to finish with seven points on the night including senior Deng Kuany, who led the rebounding effort for Eastern New Mexico with six boards. The Hounds shot 43.4 percent (23-of-53) for the night, but connected on just 4-of-20 from behind the three-point line.
Eastern New Mexico will look to rebound after a tough loss against the Mustangs on Thursday night against Angelo State in San Angelo, Texas.
