Day one of the 11th Aramark Quinn Classic wasn't friendly to the host, the Eastern Oregon University's men's basketball team Friday night.
Two seven game streaks came to an end, the Mountaineers' seven game win streak at the classic, and Montana Western's seven game losing streak at the classic. The Bulldogs have not won in La Grande since 2004 and did so in convincing fashion Friday.
Montana Western outscored EOU 43-31 in the second half and opened a 23-point lead with 2:55 remaining in regulation. The Bulldogs won the game 77-61, but only led by four at halftime. UMW used a 15-4 run after the half and led by double digits for much of the second half.
Western led for a lot of the first half, including a seven point lead at one time, Eastern tied the game at 27 with 3:10 left in the half and took the lead with 1:55 left, 30-29.
The Bulldogs shot phenomenally in the victory. Western made 12 of its 21 three-pointers, seven in the first half accounting for 21 of its 34 points. UMW shot 50 percent from the field. Layne Glaus led all scorers with 17 points, Terry Hauser had 15 points, and Brandon Lawson and JaRon Brown each had 10 points respectively. Brown also finished with a game-high 10 rebounds.
Eastern Oregon's
Thomas McCarthy was the only Mountaineer in double digits with 11 points.
Jordan Gregg led EOU with eight rebounds. Eastern shot 37 percent from the field, 35 percent from behind the perimeter, and 56 percent from the free throw line.
In the day's first game, Dean Colbray of Montana Tech had 34 points, but it wasn't enough to defeat Walla Walla University. The Wolves rallied from a five-point deficit with three minutes left to win, 78-76.
WWU began the season 0-2 but have now won two straight games, beating Northwest Christian of the Cascade Conference Tuesday night, and Tech Friday. The Wolves had four scorers in double figures led by Tristan Greenidge's 18 points. Mark Moore had 15 points, and Gerard Dauphin and Jonny Long each had 13 points respectively.
Montana Tech jumped out to a 16-5 lead five minutes into the game, and stretched the lead to 24-12 just minutes later. Walla Walla then went on a 16-4 run over a five-minute span and tied the game at 28. The Wolves led by as many as seven before the half. The lead went back and forth in the second half.
Dirk Anderson finished with a game-high 12 rebounds and added 14 points for the Orediggers. Tech will play Eastern Oregon Saturday in the fourth and final game of this year's Quinn Classic. Western and Walla Walla play in Game 3 at 6 p.m. Both games will be video streamed on EOUSports.com.
