ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – The Eastern New Mexico men’s basketball team ran into some second half struggles offensively as the Hounds dropped an 87-76 decision to New Mexico Highlands in their final game at the New Mexico Classic being held at Dreamstyle Arena.
The Cowboys (1-1) jumped out to a fast start, grabbing its largest lead of the opening period at 20-10 with 10:41 left to play in the opening half. With NMHU leading 24-15 with 8:46 to go, the Hounds (0-2) mounted a strong 16-4 rally started by a Zach Parker jumper off a fastbreak and was capped off on a Parker three-pointer to take the lead at 31-28. Parker scored eight of the Greyhounds 16 points during the run.
After the Cowboys knocked down a pair of free throws to trim the Hounds advantage to 31-30, Eastern strung together a 5-0 run off a Parker three-pointer and a jumper by Isaiah Murphy, making it a 36-30 game with 2:32 to go until halftime.
Eastern maintained its six-point advantage until the 1:24 mark, but NMHU scored the final five points and the Hounds held a slim 41-40 edge at the half.
The Cowboys opened the second half with an 8-2 streak to claim a 48-43 lead at the 17:43 mark before the Hounds fought back with a 10-4 run of their own on a pair of buckets by Arcaim Lallemand and Devin Pullum as well as a score from Nick Brown to make it a 53-52 game with 12:54 left.
A few plays later, ENMU pulled ahead by two at 56-54 off a steal and layup by Murphy, but New Mexico Highlands took the lead back for good after stringing together eight unanswered over the next two minutes to claim the 62-56 lead with 9:43 to go.
The closest Eastern could cut into the lead the rest of the way came at the 5:32 mark when a Pullum layup in the paint trimmed the deficit to five at 72-67, but New Mexico Highlands pulled away for the victory.
Murphy led all scorers with 17 points on 6-of-11 shooting from the field, 4-of-5 from the free throw line, and recorded a team-high two blocked shots.
Parker chipped in 16 points, making 4-of-9 on his three-point attempts and senior forward Chukuka Emili turned in his first double-double of the season with 11 points and 11 rebounds.
The Greyhounds will return to action on Friday, Nov. 16 as Eastern will travel to San Angelo, Texas to take on St. Edward’s at 4 p.m. in the Ed Messbarger Tip-Off Classic hosted by Angelo State.
