PORTALES, N.M. – A pair of free throws by Zach Toussaint with 6.6 seconds remaining proved to be the difference in an 89-87 win over rival Eastern New Mexico. With the win, the No. 2-ranked Buffs improved to 16-1 overall including 10-0 in Lone Star Conference play. The Greyhounds dropped to 11-5 overall and 7-3 in league action.
 
The Leaders
Four Buffs reached double-digit scoring on Saturday afternoon highlighted by Larry Wise's team-high 25 points. Kieran Elliott (18), Ahamed Mohammed (14), and Brock Mishak (10) also finished their afternoon in double figures. Elliott hauled in a team-high seven rebounds while Wise followed with six.
 
How It Happened
Each team came off the opening tip shooting lights out with the Buffs gaining a three-point advantage at the first media timeout. After the media timeout, WT retained momentum to rattle off a 10-0 scoring run, building a double-digit lead. As the Greyhounds looked to steal the momentum, a Buffs' bucket answered and held ENMU away. With 4:03 left in the first half, a pair of free throws from Jose Murillo brought the game back within five. As the clock went under a minute to play in the opening half, Wise pulled up from behind the arc to restore the double-digit advantage.
 
ENMU opened the second-half scoring with free throws before WT started a scoring streak. A strong defensive stand by the Buffs lasting nearly two minutes helped control the momentum and silence the home crowd. At the 14:25 mark, a floater by Mohammed put the Maroon and White up 20. Before the under-eight-minute media timeout, ENMU cut the WT lead down to 12. A couple minutes later, the Greyhounds brought the lead back within single digits. Like the first half, a sustained ENMU run allowed the Greyhounds to tie the game with 2:18 to play.
 
With a minute to play, ENMU took its first lead since the opening minutes only to be answered by Wise's pull-up three. A pair of Mohammed free throws extended the lead to three with 21.1 seconds to play only to have ENMU make a layup to bring the game back to one. After draining clock, Toussaint drew the foul before calmly knocking down both free throws. Now up by three, the Buffs fouled Lyron Bennett to prevent a game-tying three. Bennett sank his first attempt before intentionally missing the second. Bennett and the Greyhounds couldn't produce the bounce they wanted as Holt secured the rebound and sent a deep pass to Mishak to run the clock.
 
Inside the Box Score

• WT leads the all-time series, 87-18, 37-10 in Portales.
• Head coach Tom Brown moves to 18-1 against the Greyhounds.
• WT shot 51.5% (34-of-66) from the field, 43.5% (10-of-23) from deep, 68.8% from the charity stripe with 33 rebounds, 12 assists, one steal, one block, and eight turnovers.
• ENMU shot 58.2% (32-of-55) from the floor, 46.1% (6-of-13) from the 3-point range, 68.0% at the free throw line with 30 rebounds, 13 assists, three steals, two blocks, and 12 turnovers.

 
Up Next
The Buffs return to the First United Bank Center for a top-5 matchup with No. 5 Dallas Baptist on Thursday, Jan. 25. Fans are encouraged to White Out the First United Bank Center before tip-off at 7:30 p.m.
 
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