ENMU rallies for win

CLOVIS - To University of the Southwest, it was an exhibition game.

To Eastern New Mexico University's men, it was a chance to get back to the .500 mark.

It took a while, but the Greyhounds finally wore down the depth-thin Mustangs in the second half and claimed a hard-fought 77-70 victory over USW on Saturday afternoon at Rock Staubus Gym.

Four players reached double figures for the Greyhounds (4-4), including freshman guard Sebastian Jimenez, who delivered all 10 of his points in the final 13-plus minutes. He was 2-for-2 from 3-point range and 4-for-4 from the foul line.

"I was really proud of the guys who came off the bench tonight," first-year ENMU coach Brent Owen said. "Sebastian Jimenez is a guy who does all the right things. He does the tough things, and he made a huge impact in the game tonight."

Jimenez, whose only points prior to Saturday came on a 3-pointer against Southwestern Oklahoma on Nov. 26 in a four-team Thanksgiving event hosted by West Texas A&M, put ENMU up 62-56 on his first 3 with 13:03 to go, then made it a 10-point game with his second trifecta at the 8:21 mark.

"Normally, those are shots I can make anyway," said Jimenez, a 2020 Tatum H.S. graduate who played 14 minutes against USW. "I just do what I can do."

ENMU collected 47 points off its bench as Owen made an effort to distribute playing time. Junior guard JaQuan Morris led the way with 13 points, while senior forward Marvin Mapaga had 12 and senior forward/guard Jose Serrano notched 10.

Part of it was that Owen said he didn't like the way things were going at times.

"I was frustrated with the effort from a few guys," he said. "When that happens, you're going to just put some guys in who are going to play hard."

Mapaga went 6-of-7 from the floor in less than 11 minutes, while sophomore Jared Perry also made an impact with eight points and six rebounds.

"Marvin is a difference-maker for us," Owen said. "And Jared's really coming along. He hasn't played basketball for three years, because he red-shirted (in junior college), then had a medical redshirt and because of the COVID (situation) last year, but he's part of the long-term plan for our program."

The NAIA, Hobbs-based Mustangs (3-5), who have designated several games against NCAA Division II competition as exhibitions, had just eight players available. Only five scored, albeit all in double digits.

"When they went on their run, I thought we settled for jumpers instead of getting paint touches," first-year USW coach James Voight said. "We haven't shot well so far this season, and we have to make better decisions.

"We use these games to try to get better against better competition."

Southwest was hot early, in particular senior guard Khaire Williams, who scored the team's first 10 points en route to a 14-6 advantage. ENMU, though, was able to hold him scoreless the rest of the way.

"There was a lack of defense (early)," Jimenez said. "The second half, coach told us we needed to play better defense."

Down by one at halftime, the Hounds used a quick 5-0 spurt - an inside basket from Mapaga and a 3-point play by junior guard Cornell Greenwood - and eventually built a 13-point lead before fending off one final Mustangs bid.

Senior forward Jeremiah Toney led USW with 19 points while senior guard Brandon Meadows added 15 points and 10 rebounds, both off the Mustangs' bench. Senior guards Alvin Thompson and Tae Brown scored 16 and 10 points, respectively.

ENMU travels to Silver City on Thursday for non-league men's and women's games against Lone Star Conference rival Western New Mexico.