Greyhounds Pound St. Mary’s, 79-41, in Las Vegas
Breland Scores 13 of his 17 Points in First Half

Box Score

LAS VEGAS, NEV. — Eastern New Mexico University connected on 59.2% of its field goal attempts (29 of 49) and outrebounded St. Mary’s University by 20 boards, as the Greyhounds routed the Rattlers, 79-41, on the second day of the Las Vegas Invitational on Sunday, Dec. 19. ENMU, which held a decisive 38-19 lead at the half, improved to 4-6, while St. Mary’s, which shot just 29.4% from the field (15 of 51), fell to 8-4.

Jason Breland (Jr., G, Los Angeles, CA/Mt. San Antonio College) ignited Eastern’s efforts with 13 of his game-high 17 points in the first half. It was his most productive game on offense since joining the Greyhounds this season and was his fourth straight game in double figures. Breland hit 6 of 7 field goals in the first half and finished the game 8 of 9 from the floor.

Breland was 1 for 1 on three-point shots. He had no free throw attempts, but fouled out with 5:56 left in the game after playing 28 minutes for the Hounds. Breland is now averaging 8.2 points per game this season.

Appropriately enough, Breland opened the game with a layup, as Eastern took the first lead, then remained in front the rest of the way. The Greyhounds, who have started slowly in most of their games this season, surged out to a 15-4 lead with 14:34 remaining in the opening half. After Breland tacked his only three-pointer with 14:05 left, the Hounds led 18-7.

St. Mary’s eventually pulled within 18-14 after Billy White hit a 3-pointer for the Rattlers with 10:50 on the clock. Eastern scored the next five points, as the Greyhounds opened a 20-5 run to close out the half. Breland recorded six straight points between the 1:51 mark and the 0:31 mark, and Reggie Wallace (Jr., G, Pasadena, CA/Mt. San Antonio College) put a decisive ending on the period with a 3-pointer just two seconds from the intermission.

The Hounds shot 63.6% on first-half field goals. Breland was joined in double figures at the break by Wallace, who was 3 of 5 from the field (2 of 2 on 3-pointers) over the first 20 minutes for 11 points. St. Mary’s converted 34.8% from the floor in the first half, as the Rattlers sank just 8 of 23 shots.

ENMU started the second half with a layup by Jamaal Hunnicutt (Sr., F, Amarillo, TX/Hill JC) and matched their first-half effort with a 15-4 run to open the stanza. The Hounds led 53-23 with 13:56 remaining. Breland added just four points and Wallace only two in the second half, but Irshaun Pinckney (Sr., G, Clovis, NM/Clovis HS) scored nine and Hunnicutt tacked on eight. Hunnicutt finished the contest with 14 points, and has now scored 953 points in his four seasons at ENMU. Wallace and Pinckney each contributed 13 points during the game.

The balanced scoring resulted in four of Eastern’s five starters in double figures. Edmound Elzy (Sr., F, Victorville, CA/Barstow CC), who rounded out the starting lineup, scored just four points, but led all players with eight rebounds. He also provided one assist and one blocked shot in just 18 minutes on the floor.

Jamal Washington (Sr., G, Pomona, CA/Victor Valley College), playing in just his second game after missing the Hounds’ first eight contests with complications to an ankle injury, tallied eight points on 2 of 4 field goals and 4 for 4 at the line. Hunnicutt and Pinckney also went 4 for 4 on charity shots, as the Greyhounds sank an impressive 85.0% at the line (17 of 20).

Elzy’s eight rebounds led Eastern to a 39-19 rebounding edge and a highly-successful team effort on the glass. Daniel Sherman (Jr., F, Chino Hills, CA/Mt. San Antonio College) provided six rebounds and Hunnicutt added five. St. Mary’s received four rebounds each from White and Harry Hernandez.

White produced 10 points for the Rattlers, but was just 4 of 10 on field goals and was the only player in double figures for SMU. Joe Allen contributed nine points. St. Mary’s made just 7 of 28 field goals in the second half (25.0%), including 0 of 8 on three pointers. The Rattlers ended the game 3 of 18 from three-point range. St. Mary’s was 8 of 9 (88.9%) on free throws.

Both teams committed over 20 turnovers, with the Rattlers losing the ball 24 times and the Greyhounds misplaying the ball on 22 occasions. ENMU forced many of SMU’s turnovers, and finished with 12 steals, led by Hunnicutt with four. Sherman recorded three steals for ENMU.

St. Mary’s, from the Heartland Conference, entered the contest with four wins in its last five games, losing only to Louisiana-Lafayette, 79-63. Earlier in the season, the Rattlers defeated defending Lone Star Conference champion Tarleton State University, 69-60, but have gone just 2-2 against the LSC since then, including the loss to ENMU. The Greyhounds ended a two-game losing streak with the win.

Eastern does not play again until Dec. 30, when the Greyhounds will take on New Mexico State University at the Pan American Center in Las Cruces, N.M. Tip-off is set for 7:05 p.m. MST. The game will be broadcast live on KSEL Radio (95.3 FM) and also will be carried free on the Internet through Eastern’s agreement with TRZ/Teamline.