Eastern New Mexico University men’s basketball freshman Devin Pullum lit up the scoreboard in the second half as the Greyhounds late rally fell short against Texas A&M-Commerce, 85-78. After the setback, ENMU falls to 3-6 overall and 0-3 in Lone Star Conference play.

“Today was another hard day for us,” ENMU Head Coach Tres Segler said. “We’re getting closer to figuring out how hard you have to play to win in the Lone Star. I thought that Jaret had his group really playing hard. We surely had our chances to get out ahead and take control of the game, but we made too many mistakes during those big moments. I was very proud of our improvement in our shooting. Our percentages were much better today and we’ve got to find a way to continually improve upon those.”

Despite going into the locker room down by two at the half, the Hounds were unable to slow the Lions on offense as TAMU-C shot 67% in the second half and 61% for the game.

Freshman Devin Pullum led the team with 19 points, including 15 in the second half on 7-of-12-shooting and going 3-of-6 from beyond the arc. The Little Elm product knocked down all three of his three pointers with under four minutes to go to get the Hounds going offensively.

Junior guard Maurice Coleman dropped 18 points on 6-of-10 shooting for his most prolific offensive output as a Greyhound. The Richmond, Va., native had four assists and four rebounds.

“Devin and Maurice gave us great point guard play today and it was great to see both of them score it well,” Segler added. “Zach Parker started very tough for us and he made several plays that don’t show up in the stat sheet but are crucial to winning games.”

Jamani Pierce and Arcaim Lallemand both put up double-figures with 12 and 11 points, respectively. Lamarquis Thompson along with Coleman, Lalleman and Pierce tied for the team lead with four rebounds each.

The first half was a wild affair, featuring two ties and 15 lead changes alone between the Hounds and Lions, with TAMU-C taking a 37-35 lead into the locker room. Despite trailing by as many as 10 with just under nine minutes to play, Eastern strung together an 11-0 run over 1:18 to regain the lead. ENMU shot 46% from both the floor and beyond the arc. Pierce led the charge with 10 points before the intermission on 3-of-8 shooting, including a pair of daggers from deep.

After trailing by as many as 15 in the second half, the Greyhounds cut the deficit to six with 4:26 to play on the first of Pullum’s threes. After both sides went back and forth, Pullum drained threes on back-to-back possessions to move the score to 78-73. Despite the Herculean effort from the freshman, the Green and Silver were unable to get a pair of crucial stops on the next few possessions, allowing the Lions to get to the charity stripe and secure the win.

“We’ve got to bounce back and stay together as a family,” Segler closed with. “We go into a hostile Tarleton State gym on Saturday. I have a great deal of respect for how the Reisman family coaches their program and we’ve got to show up as the toughest version of ourselves.”

The Hounds continue the road trip to Tarleton State on Saturday. Tipoff against the Texans is slated for 1 p.m. in Stephenville, Texas. For the latest news on ENMU Athletics, follow @ENMU_Hoops and @ENMUAthletics on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram or visit GoEasternAthletics.com.

-Eastern New Mexico University-
Men’s Basketball
Will Edwards