Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
SPORTS WRITER
The Eastern New Mexico University men’s basketball team expects to face a lot of talented squads this season in the Lone Star Conference.
Interim coach Stott Carter expects the Greyhounds to come out on the attack.
“If we show up, I’m not putting anything past us,” Carter said as the Hounds (14-13, 7-7 LSC last season) prepare to take on Texas A&M International in their 4 p.m. (MST) opener today at San Angelo, Texas. “If we do what we’re supposed to do, anything can happen.”
The Hounds were picked for seventh place in the eight-team LSC in preseason. They have little experience returning from last year’s squad under Andrew Helton, but Carter believes they can play an up-tempo style for most of 40 minutes.
“Things are different here from last year because of the team, and the style will be different,” said Carter, who spent five seasons as Helton’s lead assistant before being named interim coach for the 2014-15 campaign in April after Helton stepped down. “We’re still piecing together what’s going to be best for us.”
Junior guard Deyton De La Cerda, who saw action in 11 games a year ago, is ready to take on teams which feature some Division I transfers.
“I’m ready to play against these guys,” he said. “I don’t feel like they’re that much better than me.”
While trying to play fast, the Roswell High graduate said the Hounds are going to have to limit mistakes.
“We really don’t have room for errors,” he said. “We just have to play hard and try to play mistake-free.”
Carter expects the Hounds to use 10 or 11 players every game, adding that all will be needed because the style will require frequent substitutions.
“We want to be the standard of what playing hard is,” Carter said. “If you do that, you’re going to get tired.”
De La Cerda is competing with junior college transfer Chris Wyms at point guard. Another transfer, junior John Gilliam of San Bernadino, Calif., is in contention at the shooting guard along with freshman Kevin Saiz of Corrales, N.M. (Cibola H.S.), and senior Mike Randle of Houston, who saw action in 12 games last year.
Junior forward Lawrence Domingo of Union City, Calif., who easily has the most returning experience and averaged 6.7 points and 3.7 rebounds last season, will compete at power forward with senior transfer Jacob Straley of Riverside, Calif.
At the other forward are junior Demetrius Balark of Glendale, Ariz., and junior Lathan Lieb, who played high school ball at both Dora and Clovis. In the middle are 6-10 junior Joey Martinez of El Paso and 6-7 junior Jason Clardy of Indianapolis, both transfers.
Carter said he’s seen some good things in preseason drills and scrimmages.
“We’ve showed some good signs,” he said. “We just get to get it all going in the same direction.”
The Hounds will have to be fundamentally sound to be successful, De La Cerda said.
“We’re going to be undersized in most positions,” he said. “We’ve got to box out (on the boards) and just play hard.”
Carter said defending champion Midwestern State is among a group of teams which could win the conference.
“The most important thing we can do is be unselfish,” Carter said. “We’ve got to be willing to do the little things that other people won’t do. We’re counting on that.”
Roster
No. Name Pos. Ht. Yr.
1 Jordan Awoye F 6-5 Sr.
2 John Gilliam G 6-3 Jr.
3 Lawrence Domingo F 6-5 Jr.
11 Elliott Dadds G 6-4 Fr.
12 Michael Randle G 6-0 Sr.
13 Chris Wyms G 6-0 Jr.
21 Demetrius Balark G 6-0 Jr.
22 Lathan Lieb G 6-3 Jr.
23 Deyton De La Cerda G 5-10 Jr.
25 Kevin Saiz G 6-0 Fr.
32 Jason Clardy F 6-7 Jr.
33 Jacob Straley F 6-5 Sr.
34 Joey Martinez C 6-10 Jr.
45 Joe Solis F 6-2 So.
RS Javaan Mumtaz G 6-4 Fr.
RS Ladarius Stewart G 6-1 Fr.
Coach: Stott Carter (1st year, 0-0). Assistant coach: Matthew Wilson. Graduate assistant: Jordan Romero. Student assistant: Rawley Stallard.
Schedule
November
14 — vs. Texas A&M International, 4 p.m., at San Angelo, Texas; 15 — vs. Oklahoma Panhandle State, 4 p.m., at San Angelo, Texas; 18 — at Colorado State-Pueblo, 7 p.m.; 20 — at Fort Lewis, 7:30 p.m.; 22 — vs. Western New Mexico, 6 p.m., at Albuquerque; 28 — vs. Emporia State, 1:30 p.m., at Canyon, Texas; 29 — vs. Harding, 1:30 p.m. at Canyon.
December
2 — Texas-Permian Basin, 7 p.m.; 5 — at Northern New Mexico, 7 p.m.; 13 — at Texas-Permian Basin, TBA; 19 — at South Dakota School of Mines & Technology, TBA; 31 — Colorado State-Pueblo, 5 p.m.
January
2 — South Dakota School of Mines & Technology, 7 p.m.; 7 — at Cameron, 6:30 p.m.-x; 11 — Midwestern State, 4 p.m.-x; 14 — Texas A&M-Kingsville, 7:30 p.m.-x; 17 — at Angelo State, 5 p.m.-x; 21 — at Texas A&M-Commerce, 6:30 p.m.-x; 24 — Tarleton State, 4 p.m.-x; 31 — West Texas A&M, 7:30 p.m.-x.
February
4 — at Texas A&M-Kingsville, 6:30 p.m.-x; 7 — Angelo State, 4 p.m.-x; 11 — Cameron, 7:30 p.m.-x; 14 — at Midwestern State, 6 p.m.-x; 18 — Texas A&M-Commerce, 7:30 p.m.-x; 21 — at Tarleton State, 6 p.m.-x; 28 — at West Texas A&M, 3 p.m.-x.
All Times MST. x-Denotes Lone Star Conference games.
