LA GRANDE, Ore. – They say good things come in pairs, and that's exactly what the Mountie faithful got at Quinn Coliseum on Saturday night.
The Eastern Oregon University men's basketball team trailed for only 43 seconds before it ultimately took the lead for good in a thrilling 74-64 upset over No. 12 Southern Oregon. Earlier in the night, the Mountaineer women's hoops team took down No. 8 SOU by six.
EOU held the best shooting team in the Cascade Collegiate Conference (CCC) to just a 32.8 percent (22-for-67) clip, and the Mountaineers outrebounded the Raiders, 46-38, en route to the victory.
The Navy and Gold notched its first win over SOU since Jan. 19, 2013.
KEY PERFORMANCES
Senior center Kalvin Johanson recorded a career-best 23 points to lead the Mountaineers. Junior wing Travis Meeker added 15 points on 5-for-10 shooting, while sophomore forward Brandon Hoston mustered 12 points and seven rebounds.
Junior guard Kentrell Washington saw his double-double streak end at five games, as he mustered seven points and a game-high 11 rebounds.
The Raiders (14-6, 7-3 CCC) were led by Jordan West who registered 19 points and 10 rebounds.
THE STORYLINE
With EOU on top, 11-10, five minutes into the first half, Meeker slammed home a dunk to kickstart a 13-4 run over the next six minutes to give the Mountaineers a double-digit lead.
The Navy and Gold snagged a 31-17 advantage with 6:15 left after senior center Christian Parrott scored inside, sophomore guard Tate de Laveaga swooshed a three, and Washington scored in transition.
After Justin Martin drilled a three to cut EOU's lead to 11 (33-22), Washington responded with a long-ball of his own, and then sophomore guard Miles Loupe rose high for a tip-in at the buzzer of the first half to give the Mountaineers a 38-22 advantage.
EOU scored 16 of the first 26 points of the second half to claim its largest lead (54-32) of the game after Hoston knocked down a three-pointer with 14:21 left to play.
Trailing by 21 with just eight minutes left and desperate for a comeback, SOU began firing three's, and the Raiders knocked down four in a span of 90 seconds to make it a single-digit (61-52) ballgame.
Later in the half, Martin and Joel Spear connected on three's to bridge the gap to only six (70-64) with 1:21 left, but EOU closed the game with two free throws by Johanson and a decisive dunk by Hoston to pull off the upset.
STATS OF THE GAME
40 – EOU punched in 40 points in the paint in the win.
32.8 – SOU came into the game shooting over 50 percent on the season but was held to a 32.8 clip on Saturday night.
UP NEXT
EOU (9-11, 5-5 CCC) returns to the hardwood on Tuesday against No. 25 College of Idaho in La Grande at 7:30 p.m.
