Dec. 23—Eastern New Mexico University’s men made short work of Crownpoint-based Navajo Tech on Tuesday morning, blowing out the Skyhawks 104-69 at Greyhound Arena.
Six-foot-9 sophomore forward Jose Murrillo shot 13-of-16 from the floor en route to a personal-best 28 points in just 21 minutes for the Greyhounds (8-2), who have won six consecutive games. Murrillo also had seven rebounds, four assists and three blocks, the latter moving him into fifth place on the school’s all-time blocks list with 50.
Transfer senior guard Lyron Bennett added a personal collegiate best with 24 points, shooting 9-of-12 from the floor with three 3-pointers and six assists, while senior forward Mario Whitley went 6-of-7 en route to 14 points and 7-foot-3 freshman Conrad Luczynski added 10.
It was the team’s annual “youth day” with an 11 a.m. start, and the announced crowd of 3,118 — buoyed by students from local schools — was the seventh-largest at an NCAA Division II basketball game this season, the school said.
ENMU also said it had not had 3,000 or more fans at a game this century.
“I want to say thank you to everyone who came out,” Hounds coach Brent Owen said. “This is an awesome event, the kids love it, and we had a great time.”
ENMU shot 70 percent (32-of-46) from inside the arc, and 55 percent overall (41-of-75). All 10 players in uniform for the Hounds scored, and all played at least 14 minutes.
Quinn Atazhoon posted a double-double for the Eagles (0-6) with 22 points and 10 rebounds, while ByJoe Albrandon added 13 points.
It marks the first time the Hounds have reached 100 points five times or more in an entire season since 1995-96. They notched a season-best 31 assists on their 41 baskets, with sophomore guard Junior Hodnett also collecting six dimes and eight players posting two or more.
Redshirt sophomore Niko Bossinakis made his 2023-24 debut with the team and finished with six points and four rebounds in 15 minutes. He made a free throw to put the Hounds at the century mark with 2:07 left.
It took the Hounds a while to get rolling, but Murillo’s layup at the 18:22 mark broke the scoring ice. The Eagles managed to tie it at 4-4, but ENMU scored 20 of the next 22 points for an 18-point lead midway through the half and never looked back.
ENMU’s biggest lead was 41 points (96-55) on a 3-pointer by Hodnett with 4:37 left.
Off to its best 10-game start since the 1996-97 campaign, the Hounds travel to The Pit in Albuquerque for a 7 p.m. exhibition on Dec. 29 against the University of New Mexico. The rest of the schedule is in the Lone Star Conference, where the team has gotten off to a 4-0 start.
ENMU resumes league play on Jan. 4 at Texas-Permian Basin (8-3, 3-2 LSC), then visits 20th-ranked Angelo State (10-1, 5-0) two days later.
