BOX SCORE
LA GRANDE, Ore. – The No. 8 Eastern Oregon University men's basketball team improved to 4-1 in conference play with a 96-75 win over Concordia Thursday.
Despite a triple double from Concordia's Gage Aker, the Mountaineers (12-2) (4-1) won their sixth straight game over the Cavaliers. Aker finished with 17 points, 13 rebounds, and 10 assists. Dustin Hiebert added 16 points for CU. Drew Preuninger and Kevan West scored 14 and 12 points for the Cavaliers respectively.
Aker became the first player in the Cascade Collegiate Conference to have a triple double since Warner Pacific's Jalonta Martin scored 15 points, grabbed 15 rebounds, and threw 10 assists against Hope International on Dec. 29, 2007. The last Concordia player to have the unique achievement was Tyron Manlove on Dec. 5, 2000. Manlove scored 31 points, had 13 rebounds, and 10 assists against George Fox. It was only the eighth triple double in CCC history.
Thomas McCarthy led Eastern with a game-high 20 points. The senior finished 7 of 12 from the field, including 6 for 9 from behind the perimeter. Three other Mountaineers finished in double digits,
Jason Mumm scored 12 points,
Jared Heitzman had a career-high 11 points, and
Travares Peterson added 10 points.
Anthony Brown grabbed nine of team-high 10 rebounds in the first half.
Josh Cottle had 10 assists along with eight rebounds and six points.
All 12 players on Eastern Oregon's roster played in the game, and all 12 scored. The Mountaineers shot 48 percent from the field, and 34 percent from three-point range. EOU made 11 of its 32 attempts from behind the arc. It marked the eighth time this season Eastern has made at least 10 three-pointers in a game.
The Mountaineers entered the game with the second-best three-point percentage defense, and 11th in NAIA Div. 2, holding opponents to 28 percent from behind the perimeter. Thursday, Concordia made 10 of its 22 three-pointers, finishing 45 percent in the game. The Cavaliers shot 41 percent from the field.
Concordia (5-9) (0-4) opened the game with a 5-0 lead, and EOU then tied the game at 8-8. The Mountaineers began to pull away with a 14-4 run over the next three minutes. Eastern led by as many as 18 points in the first half, including its 51-33 halftime advantage. A
Cody Thurmond free throw with 11:52 remaining in regulation gave Eastern Oregon its largest lead of the game, 75-48.
EOU improved to 12-0 when it outrebounds its opponents this season. The Mountaineers had 46 rebounds, compared to Concordia's 37. Eastern finished well over its average of 16.6 assists per game Thursday when it threw 25. The Cavaliers had 16. Concordia committed 16 turnovers to EOU's nine.
Eastern Oregon hosts Warner Pacific College (8-6) (1-3) Friday at 5:30 p.m. The Mountaineers are 11-11 against WPC since 2000. EOU is now 58-4 in its last 62 games in Quinn Coliseum, but three of those losses were the Knights. Warner Pacific fell at The College of Idaho Thursday, 78-67.
EASTERN OREGON – CONCORDIA POSTGAME NOTES
- EOU is now 12-1 when it shoots better than its opponent from the field.
- Eastern still has not lost back-to-back games in the Isaac Williams' era.
- The last time the Mountaineers lost two games in a row since Jan. 6, 2009.
- EOU is 4-1 after five games in conference play for the second straight season.
- Concordia has not beaten Eastern Oregon since Jan. 19, 2008, and has not won in La Grande since Jan. 31, 2006.
- The Mountaineers bench outscored their opponents' bench for the 12th time this season.
- Eastern improved to 10-0 this season when it leads at halftime.
- No opponent has shot over 50 percent against EOU this season.
