PORTALES, N.M. - #19 UT Tyler suffered a 68-45 upset loss at the hands of Eastern New Mexico on Thursday night in Portales, N.M.
 
The Patriot offense never found it's footing in the first defeat of the season, shooting just 28 percent (16-of-57) from the field for the contest. Eastern New Mexico rattled off 18 unanswered points midway through the first half of action to jump ahead early 30-to-12, and never relinquished control of the game from that point forward.
 
UT Tyler, who entered the contest a perfect 6-0 on the year, had just a single scorer in double-digit point totals in junior Barnell Davis with 18 points on a 6-for-17 night from the field.
 
The 18-0 run for the Greyhounds allowed Eastern New Mexico to extend a 37-20 lead into the halftime break. UT Tyler went just 8-for-25 (32.0 percent) from the field in that opening half, while Eastern New Mexico connected on exactly 50 percent (15-of-30) of their shots during that time span.
 
UT Tyler cut the 17-point halftime deficit down to just 13 on three different occasions within the first 10 minutes of the second half, but couldn't find enough rhythm offensively to climb back within single digits. Eastern New Mexico did enough on the offensive end of the floor in the second half, going 11-for-25 (44.0 percent) from the field, to keep UT Tyler at a comfortable margin.
 
Davis scored four of his six field goal make makes on the night from beyond the three-point arc to provide a lone bright spot from long range for the Patriots. UT Tyler made just 5-of-32 (15.6 percent) from three-point range, four of which came from the hands of Davis.
 
Senior Rashun Williams and Milan Szabo both finished with six points, while Szabo led the rebounding effort with nine rebounds.
 
UT Tyler will look to return to their winning ways on Saturday afternoon in Silver City, N.M. against Western New Mexico. Tip-off for that Lone Star Conference contest is scheduled for a 4 p.m. CST start.