ENMU men rout Tyler; women lose

PORTALES - Eastern New Mexico University's men played far from a perfect game on Thursday night, as evidenced by 24 turnovers and 18 missed free throws.

Still, the Greyhounds were solid all night on the defensive end and used an 18-0 first-half run to take control in a 68-45 Lone Star Conference thumping of 19th-ranked and previously unbeaten Texas-Tyler at Greyhound Arena.

It was the Hounds' first win in three all-time meetings with the Patriots - the first two were in Tyler - and their first victory over a top-20 opponent since they edged then-No. 16 Fort Lewis 73-72 on Nov. 11, 2017 in the LSC/RMAC Challenge at The Pit in Albuquerque.

Senior guard Eze Dike scored 18 points while junior guard/forward Jahcoree Ealy came off the bench for 13 for ENMU (6-3, 1-2 LSC). Meantime, the Hounds limited Tyler (6-1, 2-1) to just 28 percent floor shooting (16-for-57).

"We defended really, really well," ENMU men's coach Brent Owen said. "In our first two conference games, I noticed that teams got the ball into the paint too often. That was a lot of the emphasis for this game."

He added that ENMU wanted to attack the Patriots' zone press and not let them set up in the halfcourt. The Hounds also posted a 53-34 edge over Tyler on the glass.

"I didn't think we played our best (overall), but we played defense well enough," Owen said. "I think that was pretty impressive from our guys."

With the score tied 12-12, ENMU took off on its game-changing run that included three 3-point baskets and a thunderous slam dunk by 6-foot-9 freshman forward Jose Murillo.

It was 37-20 at halftime, and the Patriots - seeking their second consecutive 7-0 start - never got closer than 13 the rest of the way.

Tyler got only 16 points from its starters, including just six from 6-7 sophomore guard Rashun Williams, who came in averaging 20. The only Patriots player in double digits was junior guard Barnell Davis with 18 off the bench.

Davis went 4-of-13 from long distance, while the rest of the Patriots combined for 1-of-19.

ENMU was slated to host Dallas Baptist on Saturday, then return to action at home on Dec. 30 with a league tilt against Texas-Permian Basin.

Women fall to Tyler - In the first half of the twin bill, Texas-Tyler broke a 14-14 tie with the final seven points of the opening stanza and went on to a 76-60 victory over the Hounds.

The Patriots held ENMU to 36 points and 34 percent field goal shooting through three quarters, and led by 27 before the Hounds finished the contest on a 20-9 run.

"I thought we could've had better shot selection," ENMU women's coach Meghan De los Reyes said. "We took some early shots against their zone."

Tyler (8-2, 3-0) missed its first three 3-point attempts, but warmed up and went 10-of-25 from distance overall.

"We have capable shooters," said second-year Patriots coach Rebecca Alvidrez, who was an assistant at Alaska-Anchorage when De los Reyes played for the Seawolves in 2006-07. "We just have to get our feet set and have our mechanics in place."

ENMU (5-3, 2-1), which saw a four-game winning streak come to an end, led 12-9 late in the first quarter before the game turned. The Patriots finished the half on a 16-5 run over the final four minutes and carried a 41-26 lead into halftime.

Hounds sophomore point guard Bella Stone picked up her third foul as the opening canto ended, and played only 7 1/2 more minutes the rest of the way. That put most of the ballhandling responsibilities on junior guard Ashley Shipley, who didn't come out until the things were decided in the fourth quarter.

Tyler was able to apply fullcourt pressure, and its halfcourt zone defense also caused problems. ENMU finished with 26 turnovers.

"Turnovers were the name of the game," De los Reyes said. "They had 13 offensive rebounds, and the main stat was they had 21 more (field goal) attempts than we did."

Junior guard Destini Whitehead scored 21 points for Tyler. Sophomore guard Lovisa Hevinder added 14 points, going 4-for-10 from deep, and eight rebounds and junior guard Montez Gutierrez collected 12 points.

"You have to get as many as you can on the road," said Alvidrez, who is from the Albuquerque area. "Going on the road is hard. You just want to take care of the things you can control."

Freshman forward Julieta Ceja scored a season-best 13 points for the Hounds, while senior forward Edecia Beck and junior guard/forward Deja Adrian added 12 apiece.

ENMU faced another stiff test in 23rd-ranked Texas Woman's on Saturday, then is idle until Dec. 30 when it hosts UTPB.