Box Score

OLYMPIA, Wash. - After a slow start on the offensive end of the court, Eastern Oregon University men's basketball offense started to click and the defense held The Evergreen State College Geoducks to 27 percent shooting for the game as EOU defeated Evergreen, 73-54, on Friday evening.

Tony Eackles Jr. led the way for the Mountaineers (9-1, 1-0 CCC) as he scored 17 points. Kyllian Wood and Kalvin Johanson both recorded double-doubles for EOU. Wood scored 14 points and collected 13 rebounds, while Johanson scored 12 points and collected a game-high 19 rebounds.

EOU offense got off to a sluggish start to the game as the Mountaineers went six minutes without a field goal. Craig Tucker hit the first field goal for EOU; however EOU trailed 10-4.

The Mountaineers continued to trail the Geoducks 14-6 before Eastern Oregon started to mount a comeback.  EOU found themselves down as many as nine points in the first half with 15:29 left in the half.

After a Kevin Attila three pointer, EOU trimmed the Evergreen lead down to three points, 17-14. Deonta Edwards tied the game up on the next possession for EOU as he hit a three pointer.

After the three by Edwards, Eastern Oregon went on a 10-3 run to take a 27-20 lead over the Evergreen. EOU did not trail the rest of the first half and grew its lead to nine points, the largest lead of the half, after a Tucker jumper with a second left to go in the first half.

EOU took a 34-25 lead into halftime. The Mountaineers shot 38 percent in the first half and held the Geoducks to only shooting 28 percent in the half. EOU also forced Evergreen into eight turnovers in the half.

Eackles started the second half by scoring four points for EOU extending the Mountaineers lead to 12 points, 39-27, with 18:23 left in the game. On the next time down the court for the Geoducks, Evergreen cut EOU's lead down to 10 points, 39-29, after a Marc Taylor jumper.
EOU continued to hold onto a ten point lead as both teams started to trade buckets. After Johanson hit a free throw EOU took a 13 point lead, 46-33 with 12:21 left in the game.

With EOU ahead, 52-36, the Geoducks started to mount a comeback. Evergreen went on a 9-2 run that saw the Geoducks cut the Mountaineers lead down to nine points, 54-45. However, EOU did not let the Geoducks stay close for long as they extended the lead back to 13 points, 60-47, with four and a half minutes to go in the game.

Eastern Oregon continued to add to its lead, which grew to 21 points, with just over a minute to go in the game. The Mountaineers came away with a 73-54 victory.

EOU shot 45 percent from the floor for the game, while holding Evergreen to shoot 27 percent from the floor.

Eastern Oregon returns to the court tomorrow when they travel to Kirkland, Wash. to face Northwest University Eagles. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.