Greyhounds Win Third Game in a Row, as ENMU Defeats Angelo State, 74-64
Eastern Rallies Past Rams witih Strong Second Half

Box Score

SAN ANGELO, TEXAS — As the sole senior on the Eastern New Mexico University men’s basketball team, Jolen Montoya (Sr., G, Cordova, NM/Neosho County CC) provided composure at the free throw line to help ensure a 74-64 road win over Angelo State University on Thursday, Jan. 19 at the Junell Center/Stephens Arena. The Greyhounds, who were playing their Lone Star Conference South Division opener, improved to 7-9 overall with their third victory in a row. The Rams remained winless in the LSC South at 0-3 and dropped to 8-10 overall.

In a turnover-prone first half, ENMU found itself facing a 14-point deficit with 1:32 left. The Greyhounds were able to take momentum into the locker room with a 6-1 run to cut the deficit to single digits. Tristan Largent (Jr., G, Martinsburg, WV/Garrett College) provided most of the offensive outburst by scoring five of the six points, including a three-pointer for a 37-28 halftime score. ENMU committed 14 turnovers and ASU added 13 during the opening period.

It took the Greyhounds just 6:17 into the second half to take a 45-42 lead, after moving in
front 43-42 on Largent’s second three-pointer of the game. The 17-5 run created Eastern’s first lead since the 13:17 mark of the first half. Joshua Jackson (Fr., G, Madison, WI/Madison West HS) ignited the run by scoring the first four points of second half. Eastern soon added an 11-0 run, featuring five consecutive points by Largent, to complete the rally.

ASU eventually tied the game at 46-46 on a layup by Damian Mathieu. Eastern then took the lead for good, 48-46, on a jumper by Donald Young (Jr., F, Mobile, AL/Southern Union State CC) with 11:37 to go. The Greyhounds led by nine points, 64-55, following a jumper by Montoya with 5:09 left, but ACU cut the lead to 64-60 with five consecutive points. Young ended ASU’s run by hitting a jumper for ENMU with 1:40 left.

Angelo State had to resort to committing fouls to stop the clock the rest of the way. After Jackson connected on 3 of 4 attempts, Largent went 1 for 2 at the line, before Montoya sank four consecutive free throws for the final score.

Four Greyhounds scored in double-digits led by Montoya’s 15 points, which featured a
perfect 8 for 8 from the charity stripe. Largent scored 14 points and dished out a team-leading six assists. Jackson provided 11 points off the bench, before fouling out in the final minute.

Eastern’s scoring leader, Mikal Monette (Jr., F, Albuquerque, NM/University of New Mexico) was limited to 10 points because of foul trouble early in the second half. Young was very effective in only 12 minutes on the floor, as he finished with nine points and seven rebounds.

ENMU outscored ASU by 11 points at the free throw line, including a margin of nine points in the second half. Eastern converted 28 of 40 free throws overall (70.0%) and made 19 of 27 over the final 20 minutes. Angelo State hit just 17 of 32 charity shots (53.1%). The Rams hurt themselves by missing more than half of their free throw attempts in the second half, as they sank just 10 of 22 tosses.

Ontario McKee provided a game-high 16 points for Angelo. Ronald Pittman and Brian Young also scored in double figures for the Rams, with 11 points each. After hitting six 3-pointers on 11 attempts in the first half, ASU connected on only 1 of 12 attempts from behind the arc in the second half.

The victory was ENMU’s third win of the season away from Greyhound Arena. The Hounds will attempt to win back-to-back road games for the first time this year when they visit Abilene Christian University on Saturday, Jan. 21. Game time is set for 3 p.m. MST. ENMU returns home on Wednesday, Jan. 25, for an LSC South game against Tarleton State University at 7:30 p.m. MST.