Wildcats fall to 1-7 in LSC
Late Greyhound run pushes ENMU past ACU, 85-77
ABILENE -- Eastern New Mexico used a late run Thursday night to push past ACU, 85-77, in a Lone Star Conference South Division game at Moody Coliseum.
The loss is the 11th in the last 12 games for ACU, which falls to 8-15 overall and 1-7 in the LSC South. ENMU, meanwhile, improves to 9-13 and 2-5. ACU will be back in action Saturday at 4 p.m. when it hosts West Texas A&M at Moody Coliseum.
ACU was trying to snap a four-game losing streak, and found itself tied at 75-75 with 2:26 to play after a free throw by Mauro Matai, who played his best game of the season, finishing with 12 points, eight rebounds and two blocked shots.
But the Greyhounds closed the game on a 10-2 run to take the victory. Jolen Montoya got it started with a layup at the 1:38 mark to give his team a 77-75 lead. ACU's Hakim Rasul tied it with 1:28 to play with a pair of free throws, but those would be the Wildcats' final points of the night.
Montoya hit a jumper with 1:02 to play, and then Jamaal Hunnicutt hit four straight free throws in a 15-second span to give his team an 83-77 lead with 27 seconds left in the game. Reggie Wallace finished it off with a pair of free throws with 16 seconds to play in the game, making it 85-77.
Rasul led the Wildcats with 29 points, 17 rebounds and six blocked shots, while David Baxter had 17 points. Baxter had three 3-pointers in the game, leaving him just five short of breaking the school's single-season record of 87, set in 2002-03 by Rodney Lee.
Hunnicutt had a monster game for ENMU with 20 points, 17 rebounds, two assists, one block and two steals. Wallace had 15 points, ontoya 13 and Irshaun Pinckney 12 for the Greyhounds.
