Hounds topple Mustangs
Nov. 29—PORTALES — Senior guard Eze Dike didn't mind that his Eastern New Mexico University men's basketball squad struggled at times against NAIA member University of the Southwest on Saturday.
The good news for the Greyhounds is they finished strong and pulled away to a 72-64 win over the Hobbs-based Mustangs at Greyhound Arena.
"These are the kind of games I like," said Dike, who is actually a graduate student after transferring from Ivy League member Yale this season. "It shows who has guts. I'm proud of my team because we stayed together."
Dike scored 27 points, the most for an ENMU player this season, including 5-of-7 from 3-point range. He also netted 6-of-9 free throws after uncharacteristically struggling in that area.
"It was all in my head," said Dike, shooting just 33 percent from the line (7-of-21) coming in. "I just had to go back to the basics. I closed my eyes and visualized the ball going in."
Junior guards Greg Johnson and Jahcoree Ealy and freshman forward/guard Blazej Czerniewicz added 10 points each for the Greyhounds (5-1), who won their fifth in a row heading into Lone Star Conference play on Thursday at St. Edward's and on Saturday at St. Mary's.
Czerniewicz, from Gdansk, Poland, had a key stretch in the second half, scoring eight consecutive points — including back-to-back 3s — to cap a 19-0 run which turned a four-point deficit into a 63-48 lead with just over seven minutes left.
Czerniewicz had been struggling with his shot, and coach Brent Owen decided to bring him off the bench against the Mustangs.
"It was good to see Blazej come in and get some confidence," Owen said. "We took him out of the starting lineup, and in the first half he struggled with that. But in the second half, I though he let the ball come to him more."
Back-to-back 3s by senior forward/guards Malik Malone and Tre Thomas helped stake USW, which played the game as an exhibition, to an early 8-2 lead. The Hounds countered with a 12-0 surge, including two 3s and a 3-point play from Dike, but the Mustangs went on a 21-6 blitz and found themselves leading by nine with 5 1/2 minutes to go in the half.
ENMU then countered, holding the Mustangs to just two points the rest of the half and scoring 10 in a row to pull in front 34-31 at the break.
Southwest came back to lead 48-44 with 12 minutes remaining, but then went nearly 5 1/2 minutes without a field goal.
Thomas, ostensibly living up to his first name, finished with five 3-pointers and 15 points for USW while 6-foof-8 senior forward Dominique Bradley added 11.
"They did a good job," Owen said of the Mustangs. "I thought they were better than last year (when ENMU won 77-70 at The Rock in Clovis)."
The difference in the game essentially came down to the Hounds committing nine fewer turnovers than the Mustangs and shooting 13-of-18 from the foul line to 5-of-9 for USW.
Dike said he's ready for the start of conference play.
"If you just have easy (pre-conference) games, you're not going to prepare yourselves for a battle," he said. "Every game (in the LSC) is going to be a battle."
Owen noted that St. Edward's was picked for fifth in the 16-team overall LSC preseason poll, while St. Mary's was seventh. ENMU, meantime, was 15th.
"St. Edward's is very good defensively, and very skilled," he said. "It needs to be a physical game for us to win."
