PORTALES, NM --Eastern New Mexico's Mo Austin scored seven of his game-high 22 points in the final 2 1/2 minutes of the game to lift the Greyhounds to an 83-81 win over Midwestern State in Lone Star Conference play Sunday afternoon at Greyhound Arena.
The loss snapped the Mustangs' four-game winning streak as MSU fell to 9-3 on the season and 4-2 in league play.
Senior guard Bakari LaStrap paced a group of four Mustangs in double figures with 21 points, going 10-for-10 from the charity stripe. Fellow senior Pierre Sanders buried three 3-pointers on his way to 17 points, while Mason Gibson added 16 and Jonathan Jackson chipped in 12 points by hitting four triples.
Austin scored seven of ENMU's last nine points to lead the Greyhounds to a win after trailing 76-71 with four minutes to play. Senior Mario Whitley added his fourth double-double of the campaign with 16 points and 11 rebounds, while junior big man Jose Murillo had 14 points and eight rebounds.
Midwestern State welcomes Western New Mexico to D.L. Ligon Coliseum on Thursday night. Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m.
How It Happened
Eastern New Mexico scored the first 16 points of the game, but the Mustangs ended the half on a 15-4 run to take a 49-48 lead into the break.
MSU led by as many as seven points in the second half before Mo Austin finished off ENMU's 8-0 run with his lone 3-pointer of the game and a layup to give the 'Hounds a a 79-76 lead with 1:56 to play.
MSU answered with a triple from Jonathan Jackson to knot the game at 79-79 with 1:27 to go.
The teams traded free throws in the closing minute with Jose Murillo hitting two with 47 seconds to play, while Bakari LaStrap converted twice with nine seconds to play.
Austin used a hard, left-handed, direct drive to the basket to provide the difference on a layup with three seconds to play.
Game Notes
» Seniors
Bakari LaStrap (12 points, 10-for-10 from free throw line) and
Jonathan Jackson (12 points, four 3-pointers) combined for 33 points off of the bench. The MSU reserves finished with 43 points, also including five from
Antwan Taylor, three from
Jordan Reed, and two from
Vojin Mastilovic.
» Senior guard
Pierre Sanders connected on 7-of-12 shots from the field with three 3-pointers to finish with 17 points. He dished out six assists and made three steals in 30 minutes.
» Junior
Mason Gibson scored in double figures for the fifth-straight game and for the 10th time this season. The Allen, Texas, native finished 16 points on 7-of-13 shooting with two 3-pointers.
» Junior forward
Vojin Mastilovic dished out a campaign-high four assists in a season-high 22 minutes on the floor.
» Midwestern State buried 11 3-pointers, led by four from Jackson and three from Sanders. The Mustangs have made at least 10 3-pointers in each of the last three games and are shooting 43.8 percent (32-for-73) from the arc over the run.
» Midwestern State is 2-2 in games decided by two-or-fewer points this season with a pair of one-point wins over St. Edward's and West Texas A&M and a pair of two-point losses to Dallas Baptist and Eastern New Mexico.
» The Mustangs were whistled for a season-high 18 fouls against the Greyhounds.
This article was created using technology provided by Data Skrive.
