Hounds' rallies fall short against ranked ASU foes
Jan. 28—SAN ANGELO, Texas — Eastern New Mexico University's basketball teams found themselves in holes on Thursday night that they were unable to escape.
ENMU's men trailed by 19 points with 6 1/2 minutes to go in the first half, then held 21st-ranked Angelo State to two points the rest of the stanza to get back in contention before falling late to the Rams 73-70.
In the women's contest, the Hounds again saw a spirited comeback fall short in a 79-74 setback to the 25th-ranked Rambelles.
The men, who handed ASU its only LSC loss on New Year's Day at Greyhound Arena, still trailed by 10 with 8 1/2 minutes remaining before they went on a 14-4 run and pulled even 66-66 with 1:26 left after junior forward Jahcoree Ealy converted four consecutive free throws.
ASU junior guard Willie Guy then launched and hit a 3-pointer 11 seconds later, and the Rams (17-3, 13-1 LSC) went 4-for-4 from the foul line in the final 21 seconds to extend their winning streak to eight games.
Still trailing 45-34 at halftime after ASU shot a season-best 55 percent for a half, the Hounds allowed the LSC West Division-leading Rams only 28 tallies in the final stanza.
"Down 19 points in a really good environment, I was proud of our guys for staying calm," ENMU coach Brent Owen said. "They stepped up to the plate to give us a chance to win at the end."
ENMU stayed in the game by dominating the home team on the boards 43-26.
Junior guard Reggie Quezada led four Rams in double digits with 17 points, while junior guard Kevon Godwin added 14 and Guy and senior guard Tre Mitchell tallied 11 apiece.
Ealy finished with 18 points for the Hounds while 6-foot-9 freshman forward Jose Murrillo, the LSC player of the week on defense, posted his first career double-double with 16 points and 13 rebounds to go with three blocks. Junior guard Greg Johnson added 11 points and a pair of shot rejections.
Angelo State 79, ENMU 74 (women) — Down by 17 points with nine minutes left, the Hounds (8-10, 5-7) stormed back with a season-best quarter of 31 points to make it close, going 5-of-8 from 3-point range.
ENMU strung together baskets on five consecutive possessions — including four 3-pointers — to close to 68-61. The Hounds pulled to 73-71 with 40 seconds left after a 24-9 surge, but the division-leading Rambelles (17-3, 12-2) converted 4-of-6 free throws in the final 14 seconds to finally lock it down.
ENMU outrebounded the Rambelles 45-42, led by a season-best 13 off the bench from freshman forward KiKI Roberts. Junior guard-forward Deja Adrian, the team's leading scorer, missed her third game in a row with a knee injury.
"It was an incredible game tonight with really high-level play on both ends from both teams," ENMU coach Meghan De los Reyes said. "We put a huge emphasis on the boards, being the top two rebounding teams in the conference, and our effort was outstanding."
Junior guard Sawyer Lloyd collected 20 points and 11 rebounds for ASU, while sophomore forward Madeline Stephens had 18 points, 11 boards and six assists. The double-doubles were the sixth of the campaign for Lloyd and fifth for Stephens.
Junior forward Tayjanna McGhee-Pleasant added 12 points and freshman center Keniah Williams 10 for ASU Meantime, freshman forward Julieta Ceja posted a season-best 17 points for ENMU, while junior guard Ashley Shipley had 14 points and a season-best five steals, senior forward Edecia Beck added 13 points and sophomore guard Bella Stone collected 12 points and five assists.
The Hounds were slated to play at Texas-Permian Basin on Saturday. This week, they open four-game homestands at Greyhound Arena, welcoming Midwestern State on Thursday night and Cameron on Saturday.
