Hounds fall to defending LSC champion Falcons

PORTALES — A day late and a dollar short. That old adage may be a good way to describe Eastern New Mexico’s Lone Star Conference men’s basketball home opener Thursday night. The Greyhounds rallied to tie UT-Permian Basin at 57-all, only to allow a 15-2 run as the Falcons pulled away for a 84-74 victory.

“It was 15-2?,” Greyhounds coach Tres Segler said after the game. “That’s pretty bad. That’s what happens, you know what I mean? Coach Andy (Newman) really likes (Garrett Baggett), he’s been really high on him. I know he hasn’t been in the stats as much, but he’s really good juco player — we really respect him.

“We knew what he could do, and we just didn’t get it done. We lost our assignment on him, and you can’t — to a team that powerful, give up easy shots like that. That’s depressing now to hear that. It didn’t feel quite that bad at the time, I couldn’t add it that fast. Can’t do that and win games in the Lone Star, for sure.”

Baggett, a transfer from Northeastern Junior College, nailed four 3-pointers in the second half, including a pair during the 15-2 run. Tied at 57, Permian’s (6-1, 1-0 LSC) Daeshon Francis stole the ball, passed it off to Sammy Allen, who then bounce passed it back to Francis, resulting in a powerful dunk to regain the lead.

That in fact, would be the final lead change for good in the game. Francis soon hit a jumper — followed by another dunk, before Baggett got involved in the action. The 6-foot-1 shooting ace drilled a pair of triples to give the Falcons a commanding 12-point lead with 9:02 to play. From there, ENMU (3-4, 0-1) never got closer than seven points.

“Yeah, we were having a hard time scoring. Their defense is really good and they’re really tough, and we knew we were gonna have to make shots to beat them,” Falcons coach Andy Newman explained. “Garrett was really the only guy who had it going tonight. Those shots were huge, obviously — to push it up from a one possession game to 10 or 12.”

Eastern came out of the gate playing inspired basketball, as it quickly took a 7-2 lead in the opening minutes. However, the powerful Falcon offense — averaging 91 points per game coming in, soon took over.

Permian would go on a 16-3 run to take a 21-15 lead, midway through the first-half. The Hounds, meanwhile, managed to pull back within one, 28-27, thanks to a layup from Devin Pullum and a jumper by Zach Parker.

But, shooting woes proved costly for ENMU in the closing stages of the half, as Permian Basin built a seven-point lead. The Hounds shot just 11-for-34 (32.4%) from the field, including a paltry 3-for-13 (23%) from downtown.

“I think, right now, we’re predicated on getting into the paint and kicking out for shots,” Segler said. “For whatever reason, our guys aren’t finding their rhythm in that yet. It’s crazy — all my guards are 40 percent juco 3-point shooters.

“I know it’s coming and we’re gonna have an outburst game where it’s gonna feel great, so I’m just waiting for that to happen. But we gotta do a better job of getting into the lane and being unselfish — shots will come to us, and when they come to us, they’ll be a lot easier to make.”

Eastern New Mexico would go on to quickly respond to start the second-half, however. Trailing 57-51, Pullum layed it in off the glass and sunk a free throw to complete the And-1 opportunity, cutting the deficit to three.

Pullum continued his hot hand by sinking a 3-pointer to tie the contest. The freshman guard ultimately led the Greyhounds with 16 points, while Arcaim Lallemand added 13, and Parker and Lamarquis Thompson contributed double-digits of their own. As for Permian, Francis had a game-high 28, while Baggett and Josh Morris had 12 apiece.

For Newman, his defending LSC champion Falcons continue their winning ways, but he’d like to see his team play to their full potential start-to-finish, rather than just in spurts. When asked if it’s nice to have such a talented team that can randomly turn it on like they did during the 15-2 stretch Thursday, Newman laughed and said, “It is, but it’s frustrating too.”

Eastern will host rival West Texas A & M today at 4 p.m., following the women’s game. The Buffs (7-0, 1-0) are one of the top teams in Division II, and for Segler, today’s matchup comes down to toughness.

“I think the main thing about a West Texas game is it’s gonna come down to physicality. It’s gonna come down to who’s gonna be tough for it,” Segler explained. “I like my team in that regard, and I think we’re a tough team when we want to be.

“Tonight we had some moments where we weren’t very tough, and that’s disappointing. But I hope these guys look themselves in the mirror and bounce back quick.”