Commerce holds off Hounds

PORTALES — The Eastern New Mexico men’s basketball team’s home opener didn’t end how the Hounds hoped, as a late rally wasn't enough to stop an 83-73 Texas A&M-Commerce win Thursday night.

The Greyhounds (4-6, 0-3 LSC) struggled from the field all night, finishing the contest going 25-for-68 from the field and only 4-of-20 from beyond the 3-point arc. At the free throw line, the Hounds didn’t fare much better, shooting only 58 percent from the charity stripe.

Head coach Tres Segler said, “We were a little frustrated — it’s the first home game and you want to shoot better at home than on the road.”

Eastern was led by Joe Clarke and CoRnell Neal, who each scored 15 points. Marquise Harris, the Greyhounds leading scorer on the season, added 13.

The Lions (8-1, 2-1 LSC) were led by De’Andre Carson with 18, while Malik Albert and Trey Seymore had 17 and 16 points, respectively. Commerce finished at 48 percent from the field on 30-for-63 shooting.

Where the Greyhounds found themselves in early trouble was first half turnovers, with many errant passes sailing out of bounds or being stolen for easy breakaways by the Lions. Eastern finished with 19 turnovers while Commerce had 11 giveaways.

“It just felt like there wasn’t a sync to the start of the game,” said Segler. “Some of our turnovers we almost just handed to the other team, and unfortunately that led to a bunch of easy (baskets). I was proud of the second half when our guys came out and shut that down. When we made our run was when we started making them tun the ball over the other way.”

With a renewed defensive effort, the Hounds overcame a 16-point half-time deficit to outscore the Lions 49-43 in the second, but it would be too little, too late.

“To exist in the Lone Star you have to be the physical aggressor.," said Segler, a former assistant with LSC defending champ Midwestern State. "We came out physical but were getting a lot of foul calls while Commerce was still able to be physical but in control. I was proud of how our guys responded after half. They are still trying to figure out where that line is."

Commerce head coach Sam Walker said, “Well I think coach Segler does a great job. I was scared to death to come. I’ve lost to him so many times when he was at Midwestern and he does a good job with his bunch ... I think we made just enough shots to be able to beat them.”