Box Score
LA GRANDE, Ore. – The No. 23 Eastern Oregon University men's basketball team held off a phenomenal Southern Oregon rally in overtime Friday, 88-82.
The Mountaineers (9-3, 2-1 Cascade Collegiate Conference) needed an extra period to beat Southern Oregon for the seventh straight time. EOU led by 13 points with 2:49 left in regulation and by seven with 40 seconds remaining in regulation. But, the Raiders made the big late run to even the score.
In the first overtime game for Eastern since an 85-84 loss at Northwest on Dec. 5, 2009, it was the Mountaineers that used some late momentum to pull out the win. The 171st meeting between the schools was a memorable one.
Trent Roos led Eastern for the third straight game. The junior score 17 points on 3-of-9 shooting from the field. The Salem, Ore. native outscored his brother, Taylor, by five points.
Travares Peterson added 15 points for Eastern Oregon, all in the second half.
Mason Jones and
Jeff Ranstrom each had 11 points. Jones was playing in his first game for EOU and was 4-for-11 from the field, including 3-of-6 from three-point range.
Following a close first half and a 38-38 score at the break, the Mountaineers scored the first five points out of the break, and Ranstrom's jumper stretched the EOU advantage to nine points at 50-41 less than six minutes into the half. Jeff Bush made a layup to end the Eastern run and opened an eight-point SOU streak that pulled the Raiders within one with 10 minutes to play.
Southern Oregon hung within two at 56-54 with just under eight minutes remaining, but the Mountaineers used a 13-2 run to take their largest lead of the game when Peterson hit a layup to make it 69-56 with 4:11 to go.
The Mountaineers matched their 13-point advantage with 2:49 remaining after a pair of Roos free throws made it a 76-63 game. A Jordan Highland layup sparked a furious SOU rally that saw the Raiders score 17 points in just over two minutes to tie it at 80-80 and force overtime.
The Raiders (9-5, 1-2) closed the second half on a 17-4 run. Sam Osofsky (Westwood, Roos and Kyle Tedder all made three-pointers in the final minute, and Thomas' layup with eight seconds remaining tied it up.
Eric Thompson led all scorers with 23 points. The freshman had 19 points in the first half. He added 16 rebounds. Taylor Roos had 12 points and Terriel Thomas added 10 points.
Eastern hosts No. 3 Oregon Tech (13-1, 3-0) Saturday at 7:30 p.m. The top 25 matchup will have live video and stats on EOUSports.com. Live radio will be on KUBQ 98.7 FM.
