Hot-shooting Hounds storm past Buffs

CANYON, Texas — Eastern New Mexico University's men suddenly found their shooting touch in the second half on Saturday.

Down by five points at the half, the Greyhounds shot a blazing 73 percent (16-of-22) and pulled away to a 71-57 win over West Texas A&M, avenging an overtime loss to the Buffaloes on Wednesday night at Greyhound Arena.

The regular-season series split was the fourth consecutive for the teams.

Junior guard Rodney Blackmon scored 21 points and dished out eight assists while junior guard Kyle Lantz and junior post Phil Henry each added 10 points for the Hounds (7-11, 4-6), with Henry going 5-for-5 from the floor.

Senior forward Donald Sims led WT (12-6, 4-6) with 16 points and 12 rebounds and junior forward Mason White finished with 14 points.

Trailing 29-24 when play resumed in the second half, the Hounds erased the deficit early in the period and went toe-to-toe with the Buffs before taking off on a game-ending 22-9 run to break open a one-point game with 7 1/2 minutes remaining.

ENMU finished the night 26-for-48 from the floor (54 percent) and matched the Buffs on the boards 32-32 after getting outrebounded 43-33 in Wednesday's loss.

Meantime, West Texas A&M shot 39 percent in the second half and 41 percent overall (24-of-58).

The win, just the second in 10 games for ENMU, pulled the Hounds into a tie for sixth in the conference standings with the Buffs.