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Hilltoppers beat Hounds in Messbarger Classic

SAN ANGELO, Texas — The Eastern New Mexico men's basketball team fought early on to open the Ed Messbarger Tip-Off Classic, but St. Edward’s pulled away in the second half to take an 85-68 win in the first day of the even hosted by Angelo State.

The Greyhounds (1-3), however, got their first victory Saturday at the Classic, beating Jarvis Christian 88-60. No further information was available at press time.

Eastern New Mexico got off to a fast start, jumping out to a 14-8 advantage as a Nick Brown dunk at the 14:07 mark.

But the Hilltoppers fought back, eventually taking the lead at 27-26 with just under six minutes left before the half.

After a Maurice Coleman pull-up jumper gave Eastern the lead back, St. Edward’s posted a 7-0 run.

The Greyhounds trailed just 43-41 at the half, but St. Edward’s (4-0) put things on ice early with an 18-0 run over a six-minute stretch. The Greyhounds didn’t get within single digits the rest of the night.

Sophomore Devin Pullum led all Greyhounds scorers with 16 points on 5-of-11 shooting from the floor while knocking down 3-of-6 from 3-point range. He also had three assists to lead Eastern.

The Greyhounds had three in double figures, with Darius Sawyer scoring 12 points on 3-of-7 shooting and Chukuka Emili posting his second double-double of the season with 11 points and 10 rebounds.

After the Greyhounds return from the Tip-Off Classic, they’ll head south for a pair of exhibition games Monday at Texas-El Paso and Wednesday at New Mexico State. They resume the regular season Saturday at Washburn.

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