Hounds drop 1-pointers at Cameron

LAWTON, Okla. — Thursday night was simply Heartbreak City for Eastern New Mexico University’s basketball teams.

First, sophomore guard/forward Stephanie Peterson’s layup with two seconds left gave Lone Star Conference women’s co-leading Cameron a 73-72 victory over the Greyhounds. Then the Aggies pulled out a 66-65 win on the men’s side with two late free throws.

ENMU sophomore guard Natalie Stice scored from close range with six seconds left to tie women’s tilt 71-71. After a timeout, Cameron rushed the ball downcourt for Peterson’s go-ahead basket.

On the inbounds, though, ENMU sophomore guard Anasha Hurst was fouled by Peterson with two-10ths of a second left. After an Aggies timeout, Hurst made her first shot before the second one rolled out.

Cameron (13-7, 8-2 LSC) is in a four-way tie for the league lead, but was coming off a 92-69 pasting two nights earlier on its home court by seventh-ranked Texas A&M-Commerce.

Freshman guard Katie King led four Aggies in double figures with 18 points, including three of the team’s 15 3-point baskets. Junior guard Maighan Hedge, who came in leading the LSC and ranking third in Division II at 22.4 ppg, and junior forward Whitney Outon each added three 3s and 11 points while Peterson scored 10.

Senior guard Iyanna McCurdy continued her strong late-season run for the Hounds (9-10, 5-8), finishing with 24 points and nine rebounds. She’s had four double-doubles in six games, and in the two she hasn’t she finished with eight and nine caroms.

Stice added 19 points and had four 3-pointers for ENMU, which went 9-of-18 from long range for the game.

Hurst hit a pair of 3s to offset two by Cameron for an early 6-6 tie. The Aggies led by six late in the period, but ENMU sophomore guard Julia Chavez hit a 3 to close the quarter with the Aggies up 17-14.

Cameron built a 26-17 lead before ENMU pulled to within a point on a 10-2 run keyed by 3-pointers from Stice and junior guard Laura Rowe.

Trailing 39-33 at the half, the Hounds opened the third quarter with a 9-0 run, all from McCurdy. They led 46-42 before Cameron used three 3s to fuel an 11-0 run for a seven-point advantage.

Cameron led 61-53 midway through the fourth stanza, but ENMU rallied behind 3s from Stice and freshman guard Bella Stone to close to 63-62. The Aggies scored the next five points before the Hounds began their final push down the stretch.

Cameron 66, ENMU men 65 — Junior guard/forward Colt Savage hit two free throws with one second left to give the Aggies (3-13, 1-8), who have five freshmen and no seniors on their 11-man roster, their first conference victory. Meantime, ENMU (6-14, 2-9) suffered its eighth consecutive loss and remains winless on the road this season (0-7).

Sophomore forward Connor Slater led the Aggies with 19 points, going 3-for-4 from beyond the arc and hitting 6-of-7 free throws, while freshman guard Deondre Earley added 11 points. Senior forward Yosnier Cobas scored 21 points on 9-of-13 shooting for the Hounds, while freshman guard Kentrell Pullian scored 12 points and senior forward Marvin Mapaga added 10 off the bench.

First-year ENMU coach Brent Owen pointed to shooting woes (22-of-57 from the field, including 3-of-16 from distance) as well as turnovers. The Hounds were 18-of-22 from the foul line, but Cameron went 19-of-20 and also converted 9-of-19 3-point tries.

“I was proud of our fight tonight,” Owen said. “I felt like we played hard enough to win, but unfortunately we came up a point short.

“We’re not shooting the ball well and we’re not handling the ball well. There is nothing to do but continue to work hard to get better.”

Senior guard Garrick Sherrod and junior forward Kevin Nze Mba made their first starts of the season for ENMU. Sherrod led all players with seven assists while Nze Mba grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds.

ENMU squads played at rival West Texas A&M on Saturday. They each have three regular-season games left — home-and-homes against Lubbock Christian on Thursday and Feb. 22, and at home against Western New Mexico on Feb. 26.