Hounds absorb sweep at Tyler

TYLER, Texas — Scoring points was again a hard thing to come by on Thursday night for Eastern New Mexico University’s basketball teams.

Both ENMU squads were held below 30 percent from the floor as Texas-Tyler swept the Lone Star Conference twin bill, winning the women’s matchup 67-53 and the men’s contest 80-51.

In the women’s tilt, 6-foot-1 freshman Lovisa Hevinder, a native of Stockholm, Sweden, went 6-for-9 from 3-point distance and the Patriots finished 10-for-22 from long range while holding the Greyhounds (5-5, 1-3) to just 6-of-26 from distance.

Hevinder tallied 18 points, all on 3-pointers, including three in the first quarter to help stake Tyler (9-3, 2-1 LSC) to an 18-9 lead. The Hounds (5-5, 1-3) closed that margin to five points at halftime with a 16-5 surge capped by freshman guard Bella Stone’s halfcourt 3-pointer at the buzzer, but the Patriots held ENMU scoreless for 7 1/2 minutes when play resumed and outscored the Hounds 22-5 in the third stanza to open a 52-30 lead.

ENMU made the score a bit more respectable by outscoring the Patriots 23-15 in the final frame.

Senior center Liah Davis added 14 points for the Patriots, while sophomore guard Destini Whitehead finished with 13 points and sophomore forward Montse Gutierrez chipped in 10.

Sophomore guard Natalie Stice was the only player in double digits for ENMU with 20 points, including 4-of-10 from 3-point range. With 21 points in a win over Arkansas-Fort Smith in her previous outing, Stice became the first ENMU women’s player to post back-to-back games of at least 20 points since Zamorye Cox did it against Tarleton State and Texas A&M-Commerce in March 2020.

ENMU converted 13-of-14 free throws and dominated the glass 44-31, led by a season-best nine boards from senior post MeMe Amand, but shot just 27 percent (17-of-62) overall from the floor. It was ENMU’s seventh game with 56 points or fewer.

In the men’s game, ENMU broke the scoring ice on a 3-pointer by freshman guard Niko Bossinakis, but the Patriots converted four consecutive 3s for a 12-3 advantage and never looked back.

Leading 34-21, the Patriots opened the second half with an 11-0 run over the first 3 1/2 minutes for a 24-point cushion.

Tyler dominated the boards 49-30. The Patriots finished the night shooting 50 percent from the floor (32-of-64) and 12-of-23 from 3-point range while holding the Hounds to 17-of-60 (28 percent) and 6-of-25 from distance.

After scoring 82 or more points in each of their first five games, the Hounds have averaged 65 points over their last eight tilts. They’ve set season scoring lows in each of their past two games.

Patriots senior guard Micah Fuller went 6-of-8 from 3-point range en route to a season-best 21 points. Also in double figures for Tyler was freshman forward Kyle Frelow with 10 points.

ENMU (6-7, 1-3) had three players in double digits — junior guard JaQuan Morris with 11 points, and freshman guard Kentrell Pullian and junior forward Kevin Nze Mba with 10 apiece.

ENMU’s road trip concluded with conference matchups on Saturday at Texas A&M-Commerce. The Hounds return to action with LSC twin bills on Thursday against St. Mary’s and on Saturday afternoon against St. Edward’s at Greyhound Arena.