Hounds pull win over Texas Wesleyan

PORTALES — In a good story, the when is just as important as the who, where, what or why. In a basketball game, the win is the most important thing, far above who leads you there or when you finally take control.

That's what Eastern New Mexico University's men showed on Saturday, riding a balanced effort to overcome a sluggish start and win 80-70 over Texas Wesleyan at Greyhound Arena.

Junior Lamarquis Thompson scored 11 of his 20 points in the second half to lead three in double figures for the Greyhounds (5-8), who took control with a 10-2 run early in the second half. Chris Lewis added 11 points, and Marquise Harris scored 10 for Eastern.

On a day where a flurry of snow and ice kept many fans at home — attendance was generously listed at 119 — neither team found much of a rhythm for the first 17 minutes. That changed when Harris had a 3-point play to kickstart a 12-4 run, but the visiting Rams kept things tight by getting a pair of layups off of steals in the half's final 23 seconds.

Texas Wesleyan cut the lead to 42-41 just 32 seconds into the second half, but the Rams didn't score in their set offense for another five minutes as Lewis took over inside. After the run ended with a Chris Wyms layup to make it 54-44, the Rams never got closer than five the rest of the way.

"The last two or three games," ENMU coach Tres Segler said, "we've had a slow start coming out of the half. I was really proud of that first group, coming out with energy."

The Greyhounds had 12 players score - including two with four points, two with five points and two with seven points.

"It's a blessing," Segler said. "To win in the Lone Star (Conference), you have to have depth, but I want guys who do different things."

The Rams, meanwhile, played just nine players in what was an exhibition game for the NAIA squad. They never quite responded after halftime, and were buried by 3-pointer disparity on a night where most everything else was even. The Rams, who are 10-2, shot 5-of-23 and probably had better long-range looks most of the night than the Greyhounds (7-of-18).

"That's about as bad as we've played in a month," Rams coach Brennen Shingleton said. "We didn't do enough to win a game on the road, obviously. Our effort defensively, our offense, our energy level was bad. Fortunately, this is an exhibition for us, and it doesn't count (on our record)."

The Rams still had a chance with three minutes to go, down 69-64. But after Dion Rogers missed a 3 that would have cut it to a one-possession game, CoRnell Neal snatched the loose rebound from a pair of Rams and went coast-to-coast for a nail-in-the-coffin finger-roll layup.

It was one of just two field goals for Neal, who has been the team's leading scorer in six games and is second on the team with 15.5 points per game — just behind Harris' 15.6.

"It's really everybody working together," Thompson said. "We don't have a set scorer. Everybody can shoot the ball, everybody can get a good shot."

The Rams are off for the holiday and will face Bethel at home on New Year's Eve. The Greyhounds also have next week off, but go right to Las Cruces after Christmas for a Dec. 27 game at New Mexico State.

"A chance to be on SportsCenter," Segler said, "if we do things right."