Game Recap: Men’s Basketball |  | Jose Montoya

MILESTONE DAY AS GREYHOUNDS BEAT JAVELINAS AT HOME

Eastern New Mexico men’s basketball made history Saturday afternoon as they won their 1000th game in program history.

A 73-65 victory over Texas A&M-Kingsville pushed the team to 12-6 (7-5 LSC) on the year and kept them in sole possession of sixth place in the conference standings.

“Just really proud to be the head coach of Eastern New Mexico. Obviously, a lot of tradition with a team in the past that’s won a national championship,” said head coach Brent Owen after the game. “You see the conference championship banners up there are those guys laid the foundation and we just want to hang our own banners and to continue build to that foundation.”

TAMUK went on the game’s first big run as they score seven-straight to hold a 12-8 led with 14:17 remaining. Eastern responded back to take a brief lead, but the Javelinas stayed feisty and made two three-pointers on ensuing possessions and saw themselves up 21-15 with 11:06 to go in the opening frame forcing Owen to call a timeout.

After the break from play, the momentum of the contest changed. ENMU went on a 17-3 scoring spree and caught a 32-24 advantage.

Despite the major turning point, the Javelinas did not let up. At the half, Eastern held a slight lead, 34-33.

The Greyhounds hit the ground running as they ignited their way to a 46-33 score over the opening three minutes of the period.

“We were talking in the locker room and we feel like the first half was very much not only our runs, but their runs as well,” said Owen on the pace of the game. “Luckily we punched first in the second half and I just thought after we made that run our guys energy, the energy in the arena just fed us the rest of the game and put them in a bad spot.

Texas A&M-Kingsville got the game within seven points towards the latter half of the contest, but ENMU held on behind strong efforts from the whole team.

One of the breakout performances came from freshman guard Błażej Czerniewicz who scored in double figures for the fourth time this season and his first against an LSC foe.

The Poland native hit three shots from behind the arc to finish with eleven points. He added two steals and two assists on the afternoon.

“I’m happy the most for not turning the ball over once,” said the freshman on the thing he was most proud of after the game. “Offense is the bonus.”

Jahcoree Ealy finished with another great offensive performance with 18 points, including shimmying his way to a perfect 8-for-8 from the free-throw line.

Off the bench, Errol White kept up his strong play on both sides of the court. He earned his sixth double -double after a ten point and ten rebound performance. Two other teammates joined White scoring ten points – Eze Dike and Greg Johnson.

On Cowboy Day, Alex Bossinakis lent Czerniewicz a pair of boots to sport before the game and the freshman said this when asked about the latest fashion trend.

“I actually played good because my roommate Alex – his cowboy shoes are just too good,” said Czerniewicz. “I would love to have the same shoes.”

Wardrobe aside, ENMU limited the Javelinas to 23-for-66 (34.8%) shooting, including 9-for-31 (29%) from deep range.

As a team, they went 18-for-24 (75%) from the free-throw line, connecting on seven more shot than TAMUK attempted (11) from the charity line.

The Greyhounds are back on the road with two tough contests next week. The first will be a rematch with Angelo State who came into Portales seeking a key win and came up shy by ten points (80-70) earlier this month. That game is set for 6:30 MT on Jan. 26. Fans can listen to the game live with play-by-play from Doc Elder.