Game Recap: Men’s Basketball | | Jose Montoya
ENMU EARNS DOUBLE-DIGIT VICTORY OVER NAVAJO TECH SATURDAY AFTERNOON
“It’s a great place to play in,” said Darion Morgan on having the opportunity to play at “The Rock” where he played his prep basketball. “They show love out here and all I told them (his teammates) is as long as we show up, they are going to support us.”
The crowd did show up and saw Morgan and his teammates beat NTC for the second time in three days.
Four different Greyhounds made field goals over the opening four minutes against the Skyhawks to take a quick 10-0 lead.
Navajo Tech got within three points with 5:41 remaining in the first half as one of their guards, Rich Serrano, successfully completed a three-point play, but the Hounds did not let NTC gain any additional control for the remainder of the period.
Going into the halftime break, ENMU held a four-point advantage (33-29) over the visitors from Crownpoint, N.M.
On the first play in the second half, the Skyhawks made a three-point basket to decrease the Eastern lead to one-point (33-32), but the Greyhounds began an 8-0 run courtesy of buckets from Greg Johnson, Jahcoree Ealy, and Errol White to hold the distinct advantage.
The most electric moment in the matchup came after freshman Alex Bossinakis made a pair of free throws to put the Hounds up 52-40 with 11:23 left in the game. The Texas native forced a turnover on the ensuing possession and converted the defensive play into a layup and 14-point lead.
“It helps a lot when you can make a team play and get everyone else going,” said Alex Bossinakis on the key turnover. “When I can rely on my teammates, it is massive.”
The Skyhawks got within nine points later in the frame, but the Greyhounds made it too difficult for Navajo Tech to find any success in the final moments of the contest.
ENMU outscored the visitors 48-24 in the paint and put up 30 points off Skyhawk turnovers.
Nine different Hounds scored in the game and Johnson and White tied for a team-high 13 points. Ealy finished the match with 12 points off the bench.
“I thought our intensity and attention to detail improved from Thursday. We made it harder for Gant (Navajo Tech’s center) to get easy catches and gave them problems with pressure in the backcourt,” said head coach Brent Owen. “With three guys who typically play heavy minutes out for both games this week, it gave other guys an opportunity to play important minutes and it was encouraging to see some of those guys step up and help us win.”
The team comes back to Greyhound Arena for a pair of matches this week. On Wednesday, November 23, they will face Northern New Mexico and on Saturday, November 26, Eastern will host the University of Southwest. Fans are encouraged to bring canned goods to both games.
