Portales N.M. – The Eastern New Mexico men’s basketball team are headed to Texas for a pair of road games starting with St. Mary’s on Dec. 12th, and ending with St. Edward’s on Dec. 14th.

LAST WEEK
Despite a late rally, Eastern New Mexico fell in their first home game of the season to Wayland Baptist 76-70. The Pioneers used their speed to gain 20 points off fast-breaks and another 22 off Hound fouls, calculating an 84.6 percent from the free-throw line. The Hounds struggled in the first half connecting for 13 out of 26 from the field ending with a 37.7 field goal percentage. Coming back from halftime, Eastern New Mexico held Wayland Baptist to a 6-0 scoring run. Coming within two and 16 seconds left on the clock, a Hound foul helped the Pioneers take their final lead of the game.

Devin Pullum led the Hounds in the first half going 4-for-5 from beyond the arc totaling 13 points and added another 10 points in the second half for a total of 23. Garrick Sherrod caught a couple charity shots after back to back runs to the basket ending with a 66.6 free-throw line percentage. Yosnier Cobas recorded six rebounds and went five for five from the free-throw line. Isaiah Murphy recorded four assists and four rebounds in his 22 minutes of play.

SCOUTING THE COMPETITION

St. Mary’s
This marks the first year St. Mary’s is participating in the LSC conference. Last year the Rattlers made it to the last Heartland Conference Tournament after a win against Texas A&M-International, but were unable to continue after losing to St. Edwards in the first round of play. In their season opener, St. Mary’s took an overtime win against Colorado School of Mines.

Caleb Jordan, 6’0 sophomore , has hit 100 points this season in seven games, averaging 14.3 points per game. Jordan is also shooting a 95.0 percent from the free-throw line. Jordan leads the Rattlers in assists recording 21 this season. Markques Houston, 6’4 senior, has also hit 100 points this season, shooting 72.2 from the free-throw line. Matej Gaspert, 6’11 senior, is not only dynamic on the boards recording 39 rebounds this season, 28 defensive, but he is also a threat on the free-throw line shooting an 80%.

St. Edward’s
St. Edwards finished the 2018-19 season on a historical note making their first ever NCAA Regional Final appearance. Following the 2018-19 season, the Hilltoppers earned NABC team academic excellence award. Four players were named to the NABC honors court. Head coach, Andre Cook, was named the TABC small college coach of the year, while Ashton Spears was named player of the year. Ashton Spears was also selected as the LSC Preseason player of the year after averaging 19 points, 2.9 rebounds, 2.5 steals, and 2.2 assists per game for the 2018-19 season. This season, Spears has recorded 174 points averaging 21.8 per game.

LEADING THE HOUNDS
Devin Pullum currently leads the Hounds in scoring averaging at 13.5 points a game, 81 points so far this season. Pullum put up 23 points this past weekend against Wayland Baptist going 5-for-7 from beyond the arc. Yosnier Cobas, a 6’7 junior from Florida, leads the Hounds in rebounding with 39 this season so far. Cobas also leads the Hounds in blocks recording six this season. Deng Kuany has gone 4-for-4 from the free-throw line hitting a perfect 100 percent.

NOTABLE MENTIONS
After going 4-for-6 from the free-throw line, Garrick Sherrod is averaging a 83.3 percent from the line making 20-24 this season. Jose Serrano, holds the second place spot for the Hounds in points scored, with 45 this season averaging nine a game. Serrano also is dominate on the glass with 19 rebounds in six games. Marvin Mapaga, the junior from Africa, is becoming a great addition to the Greyhounds averaging a 71.4 free throw percentage making 10-of-14 from the line. Mapaga has also recorded 18 rebounds while averaging 16.8 minutes a game.

SO FAR THIS SEASON
The Hounds struggled at the start of the 2019-20 season. Falling in the first two opening exhibition games. Starting their regular season at the LSC/RMAC Conference Challenge in Durango Colo., their first game against New Mexico Highlands proved to be a battle between the two teams ending in a loss. Despite a late comeback effort in their second contest the Hounds lost 90-85 to Fort Lewis. In their first conference match up the Hounds visited rival West Texas A&M. Falling behind in the first the Hounds were unable to recover and create scoring plays, loosing the match up 93-78. The Hounds saw their best start this season against Regis University. Taking a led into halftime the Hounds were able to continue leading in the contest until the last five minutes of play. Despite a late rally the Hounds fell by six points to Wayland Baptist in their home opener.

The Hounds return home for a matchup against UAFS on Dec. 19 at 7:30pm.