UTEP avoids Greyhound upset

EL PASO, Texas — Eastern New Mexico ended Monday night just five minutes away from pulling off what would have easily been the biggest win of the Tres Segler era, even it it technically wouldn’t have counted in any standings.

Instead, Evan Gilyard and Divsion-I Texas-El Paso made just enough plays down the stretch to hold off a huge exhibition upset and claim a 66-59 win Monday Night at the Don Haskins Center.

The Greyhounds, who were coming off an 88-60 rout of Jarvis Christian for their first victory, face New Mexico State in another exhibition tonight before Saturday’s regular season road game at Washburn.

Gilyard had 29 points on 11-of-19 shooting, and Efe Odigie added 14 points and 17 rebounds for the Miners, who jumped out to a 14-4 lead with 13 minutes to go in the first half but needed a 9-2 run over the game’s final 4:59 to hold off a balanced Greyhound attack.

Senior Maurice Coleman led the Greyhounds with 13 points on 4-of-10 shooting. Sophomore Devin Pullum was the only other Greyhounds with double digits, scoring 10 points, but three other Eastern players registered at least eight points — including senior post Chukuka Emili’s eight-point, eight-rebound effort.

The Greyhounds started ice cold from the floor, starting off 2-of-10 early and 7-of-25 over the game’s first 17 minutes. The Miner lead floated around double figures for most of the first half, until a 16-second stretch cut the deficit in half. Zach Parker hit a 3-pointer, then had a steal on the ensuing UTEP possession to set up a fastbreak layup by Emili and make it 27-22 with 2:50 to go before halftime.

The second half began with a 14-3 run bookended by Parker 3-pointers and featuring an and-one dunk from Darius Sawyer, who finished with eight points and a pair of steals.

The Miners knotted things up with a Paul Thomas trey at the 13:19 mark, and took the lead for good about 45 seconds later on a pair of Gilyard free throws.

Versus Jarvis Christian — The Greyhounds’ first win was never in doubt at the the Ed Messbarger Classic at Angeo State, as Eastern rolled out a 10-1 advantage early and led by 39 at the half.

Eastern had more players score in the first half (10) than Jarvis Christian had total points (9) in a 3-of-21 effort.

In all, 13 players saw court time for the Greyhounds with everybody playing between eight and 22 minutes.

Parker had 14 points to lead four in double figures, but four others scored at least seven points in a game where nobody had to carry the offensive load.

Isaiah Murphy had 13 points on 5-of-8 shooting, while Mangistu Jongkor and Deng Kuany each had 10.

Jaewon Williams had 11 to lead the Lions (0-4).

Saturday at Washburn — Saturday marks the Greyhounds’ final regular season game before beginning Lone Star Conference play (7:30 p.m. Nov. 29 at home against Midwestern State).

The Ichabods — both the school and the mascot are named for Ichabod Washburn, whose $25,000 donation in 1868 kept the school afloat — entered their Tuesday night game with Truman State at 2-1.

Javion Blake leads the Ichabods at 22.7 points per game, while David Salach is nearly averaging a double-double with 10.0 points and 9.3 rebounds per game.