WT, LCU ready to test Hounds' home mark

PORTALES – Eastern New Mexico University's men didn't have much trouble keeping their perfect record at Greyhound Arena intact last week.

This week, you can figure that mark will receive a stiff challenge.

After whipping Midwestern State on Thursday night, the Greyhounds posted their second victory in a four-game homestand with a 93-63 thumping of last-place Cameron on Saturday, keeping themselves in strong position to lock down a Lone Star Conference tournament berth. They now stand 11-0 this season at their home digs.

This week, West Division-leading West Texas A&M (16-6, 14-2 LSC) and third-place Lubbock Christian (16-6, 12-4) come calling on Thursday and Saturday, respectively.

"WT is a challenge that we feel like our team is ready for," ENMU men's coach Brent Owen said.

With six games left, the Hounds (14-8, 9-7 LSC) currently stand fourth in the West Division and seventh overall in the LSC, which will take the two division winners and the next six best conference record to the league get-together in early March.

Junior guard Greg Johnson, who funneled in a season-best 28 points against the Aggies (4-19, 0-11), said the team has to avoid getting too far ahead of itself.

"We're just taking it one game at a time," he said. "You can't afford to look ahead that much.

"We need every win we can get. We want to move up (in the standings), and I think we're starting to play our best basketball."

ENMU used a 13-0 run to break a 10-10 tie and an 8-0 surge to go up 36-16 with six minutes left in the half. Cameron, which had been playing better of late, made a brief run early in the second segment but never got the margin under 12.

For the game, the Hounds shot 49 percent from the floor on 34-of-69, including 55 percent in the opening stanza. It was their second-highest point total of the season, trailing only a 108-97 loss at WT on Jan. 14.

"We had to lock in," said Johnson, who went 11-for-20 from the field. "Coach came up with a good game plan, and we executed it.

"It'll be a grind now. We just have to keep our heads on straight and keep battling."

Freshman forward Blazej Czerniewicz just missed a double-double with a season-high 16 points on 6-of-9 shooting and nine rebounds. The 6-foot-6 Czerniewicz, who is from Poland, connected on 4-of-6 from the 3-point line.

"Blazej is really shooting the ball well right now," Owen said. "He's got some confidence about him, and it's showing through."

Junior forward Jahcoree Ealy added 15 points, five rebounds and a team-high five assists, while sophomore forward Errol White compiled his seventh double-double of the campaign with 11 points and 14 boards.

Cameron, which came into the weekend 2-2 in its previous four games with a four-point loss to WT and an overtime setback against LCU, had a chance to try and make a game of it early in the second half but just couldn't find the spark.

Top scorers for the Lawton, Okla.-based Aggies were freshman guard Calen Goff-Brown with 15 points – all in the second half on five 3-pointers – and sophomore guard Reggie Prudhomme and junior forward DeShon Munson with 13 apiece.