CALDWELL, Idaho – All five starters tallied double digits, and the Eastern Oregon University men's basketball team blistered the nets in a 90-78 victory over Montana Tech on Saturday night.

The Mountaineers (4-5) hit seven-straight shots in a critical stretch of the second half to keep the Orediggers at bay.

"We showed a lot of toughness to be able to bounce back and get a win against a good, scrappy Montana Tech team," said head men's basketball coach Jared Barrett. "We shared the ball really well and played unselfish basketball. A lot of those 20 assists were to open three-point shooters, and we shot a high percentage."  

Key Performances
Pushing his double-double streak to nine games, junior guard Kentrell Washington once again led the way with 20 points, 13 rebounds, and seven assists.

Sophomore guard Tate de Laveaga added 19 points, including a 4-for-5 effort from downtown, and senior guard Case Rada registered 13 points. Meanwhile, both senior forward Kalvin Johanson and sophomore forward Brandon Hoston added 10 points apiece.

Paul Engstrom paced Montana Tech (5-2) with 23 points and a 9-for-9 effort from the charity stripe.

The Storyline
A balanced attack in the opening 20 minutes helped EOU build an eight-point (28-20) lead with 8:49 remaining after a three-pointer by de Laveaga. The Orediggers pulled to within four (30-26), but senior forward Christian Parrott netted four points amidst a 9-1 run to give EOU its largest lead (39-27) of the contest with 3:45 left in the opening frame.

EOU went into the locker room with a 41-37 advantage. The Mountaineers shot 45.5 percent (15-for-33) in the opening stanza, including six jumpers from beyond the arc. The Orediggers kept pace thanks to a 14-for-15 effort from the foul line.

The Orediggers drilled two three's in the early stages of the second half and strung together a 17-6 run to snatch a 54-47 advantage with 15:13 remaining. Freshman guard Caulin Bakalarski and Rada drilled three's to cut it to three (56-53), and the Mountaineers hit eight of their next 11 shots to reclaim the lead, 78-68, with 5:42 left in the back-and-forth affair.

Montana Tech cut EOU's advantage to five (81-76), but de Laveaga netted five-straight points, including a dagger from beyond the arc to put the Orediggers to rest.

Stats of the Game
6 – Three's in both halves for the Mountaineers.
5 – Players in double figures for EOU.
9 – Straight double-doubles for Washington.

Up Next
EOU returns to the hardwood on Nov. 27 against Northwest Nazarene in Nampa, Idaho, at 7 p.m. MT.