Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
ENMU guard Ibn Zaid pulls up for the jumper in the second half of Saturday's game at Greyhound Arena. Zaid had seven points and four assists in the 76-71 defeat.
PORTALES — Eastern New Mexico fought its way back, and had matched the defending Lone Star Conference champion West Texas A&M Buffs blow for blow with just two minutes left.
Then Joel Murray delivered the knockout blow. The sophomore guard, a third-team All-LSC selection last year, scored five points on consecutive possessions to break the stalemate and spark a 76-71 victory Saturday at Greyhound Arena.
Murray scored 13 of his 22 in the second half, while fellow sophomore Qua Grant had a game-high 27 points that included a series of acrobatic layups throughout the contest.
While the visiting Buffs (13-1, 5-1 LSC) led for most of the contest and by as many as 14 in the second half, the Greyhounds found ways to stay in a game that featured six lead changes and four ties.
Jose Serrano scored 16 points to lead the Hounds (3-8, 3-3) in just 22 minutes of action, while Devin Pullum and Garrick Sherrod added 10 each. Serrano and Sherrod led a huge effort by the bench, which outscored WT’s reserves 41-6.
Grant and Murray each had three steals for the Buffs, which held a 27-6 advantage in points off turnovers.
Greyhound senior forward Deng Kuany just missed a double-double with eight points and a game-high 10 boards.
Both teams are on the road Thursday and Saturday. Thursday will see the Greyhounds face Western New Mexico and the Buffs Texas-Permian Basin, then the teams will trade those opponents on Saturday.
