CALDWELL, Idaho – De'Sean Mattox scored 33 points, but it was not enough as the Eastern Oregon University men's basketball team's second half rally fell short as the No. 5 College of Idaho Yotes defeated EOU, 94-75, Friday night at the J.A. Albertson Activities Center.
 
The Mountaineers (9-7, 2-5 CCC) trimmed the Yotes lead down to one point late in the second half but could not overcome the deficit. Mattox was 9-of-16 shooting and 5-of-10 from behind the arc. Case Rada followed with 18 points to round out the double-figure scorers for EOU.
 
The Yotes were led by Josh Wilson who scored a career-high 22 points on 8-of 12 shooting. Marko Kovacevic followed with 21 points, helping the Yotes extend their home winning streak to 27 games.
 
The Yotes scored the first four points of the game but EOU answered by scoring the next four points on a layup by Bryan McGriff and a pair of free throws by Mattox. EOU took the lead at 6-5 after a Kalvin Johanson dunk with 17:22 left in the first half. This was the only lead for the Mountaineers would have in the first half.
 
College of Idaho regained the lead 20 seconds later after Joey Neneker hit a three pointer, 8-6. After taking the lead, the Yotes slowly started to pull away. College of Idaho went ahead by 13 points, 28-15, after a three by Josh Wilson.
 
The Yotes continued to add to their lead and extended the lead to as many as 17, 40-23, after a Marko Kovacevic dunk. After the dunk, EOU scored the next six points, all by Mattox, trimming the lead to 11 points, 40-29.
 
Mattox continued to lead EOU back in the contest, as he scored 12 straight points for the Mountaineers. After a Mattox three pointer, EOU cut the Yotes lead to single digits, 46-38, the first time the game was in single digits since it was 28-19. McGriff followed with a three-pointer, 25 seconds later, putting EOU down 46-41. Joe Vaz hit a jumper as the clock hit zero to extend the Yotes lead to 48-41, at halftime.
 
The Mountaineers continued the comeback and brought the score to five points, 50-45, after a Kalvin Johanson jumper, with 17:52 left in the game. The Yotes brought the lead back to ten points, 57-47, before EOU answered back. EOU went on a 9-0 run, trimming the led to one point, 57-56. During the run, Mattox scored five points and Michael Crane scored the remaining four points during the run.
 
After the Mountaineers cut the lead to one point, the Yotes grew their lead back to double figures as their lead went back to 10, 72-62. EOU slowly started to come back and scored six of the next eight points to find themselves down by six, 74-68.
 
 During the Mountaineers comeback, EOU was dealt a huge blow and with four minutes remaining in the game McGriff, the third leading scorer in the Cascade Collegiate Conference, fouled out with 7 points. After McGriff fouled out, the Yotes went 10-for-10 from the free throw line and held the Mountaineers to seven points for the remainder of the game. The Yotes defeated the Mountaineers, 94-75.
 
The Mountaineers return to action tomorrow, Jan. 10, when they travel to College Park, Wash. to face Walla Walla University at 7 p.m. PT.