Greyhounds drop men's basketball opener

ALBUQUERQUE — Michael Ranson and Riley Farris hit 3-pointers on consecutive possessions in the closing minutes, and the Fort Lewis Skyhawks got a balanced effort to upend Eastern New Mexico 82-74 Friday night to open the New Mexico Classic.

Keven Biggs went 5-for-7 from beyond the arc, and scored 20 points to lead four in double figures for Fort Lewis in a game that featured seven lead changes and the final score as the game’s biggest lead for either team.

Farris scored 19 points and had a team-high five rebounds, while Marquel Beasley added 15 and Alex Semadeni 13 for Fort Lewis — which went 12-for-22 from 3-point territory to help offset a dominant performance by Eastern New Mexico (0-1) inside.

Senior Chukuka Emili, a transfer from Division-I Houston Baptist, scored 21 points on 9-of-12 shooting and just missed a double-double with nine rebounds. Emili’s inside work was part of a 46-18 advantage in points in the paint.

The Greyhounds, meanwhile, were cold from long range, with seven different players combining to go 3-of-20 versus 29-of-46 from inside the arc.

Maurice Coleman scored 12 points on 5-of-7 shooting, while 2017-18 scoring leader Zach Parker had 10 points on the night.

The Greyhounds were protecting a thin lead over the final few minutes, after an Isaiah Murphy jumper made it 67-64 with 3:59 left. A Coleman free throw made it 70-68 with 2:05 left to play, but Beasley found Ranson for the 3-pointer with 1:50 to go. After Pullum missed a trey attempt on the other end, Semadeni found Farris. His shot made it 74-70 with a minute to play, and the Skyhawks salted things away with an 8-for-8 stretch from the free-throw line.

Biggs and Farris combined for 39 of the Skyhawks’ 46 bench points, compared to 21 for the Greyhounds — led by sophomore Devin Pullum’s nine points.

The Greyhounds fell to 0-2 Saturday with an 87-76 loss to New Mexico Highlands to close out the Classic, and will look to regroup before they head to another Classic next week. Eastern heads to Angelo State for the Ed Messbarger Tip-Off Classic, where they will face St. Edward’s Friday and Jarvis Christian Saturday.

No further information was available on Saturday’s game at press time.