PORTALES, N.M. (February 8, 2025) – The University of Texas Permian Basin men's basketball team continued its stretch of four straight road games by traveling to take on Eastern New Mexico University on Saturday. In the end, UTPB cut its deficit to one point six times in the second half and twice in the final seconds, but ENMU was able to pull out the 83-80 victory.

Freddie Word scored 20 points on 9-for-12 shooting from the field and added team-highs in both rebounds (8) and assists (4). DJ Armstrong scored 16 points on 4-for-10 shooting from three, Alex Matthews added 14 points on 50 percent shooting from the field (6-12), and Maison Adeleye finished with 11 points and four steals. ENMU, meanwhile, had five players in double figures.

UTPB shot 63.33 percent (19-30) from the field in the second half and 54.4 percent for the game, its third-highest shooting percentage of the season, but was just 5-for-16 (31.3 percent) from three. The Falcons also shot just four free throws in the second half after going 10-for-14 from the line in the first half.

ENMU shot 62.96 percent (17-27) from the field in the first half and 57.4 percent from the game, but like UTPB, struggled from three. The Greyhounds were just 3-for-12 (25 percent) from beyond the arc.

Most other statistics were very similar, with 14 turnovers by the Falcons and 12 by the Greyhounds, a 29-28 edge on the boards by UTPB, and a 7-7 deadlock on the offensive glass. ENMU outscored UTPB 46-40 in the paint, 20-15 on points off turnovers, 20-12 on fastbreak points, and 11-10 on bench points while the Falcons held a 12-8 advantage on second chance points.

UTPB closed to within one point of ENMU several times in the second half and tied it at 75-75 after a steal by Adeleye and assist to Word for the fastbreak layup with three and a half minutes left to play. The Greyhounds, however, would answer with two-point jumpers on their next two possessions.

The Falcons were still fighting with a chance in the final 30 seconds as a layup by Matthews made it a one-point deficit (79-78) with only 17 seconds remaining. Matthews did the same with a layup with nine seconds left to try and extend the game, but ENMU went 4-for-4 from the free throw line in the final 14 seconds and committed a smart foul with just two seconds left to help prevent UTPB from getting off a good look from three in an effort to try and tie the game.

UTPB falls to 15-8 overall and 11-6 in the Lone Star Conference while ENMU, which hung its 2024 Lone Star Conference Championship banner before the game, is also now 15-8 overall and improves to 10-7 in the league. The Falcons also fall to a tie for third place in the West Division at 7-4, and are now fifth overall in the LSC standings, one game ahead of ENMU and Angelo State University. UTPB is still searching for its first win at ENMU since November 30, 2017.

UTPB hits the road again next week to take on Midwestern State University at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, February 13.