Box Score

LA GRANDE, Ore. – The EOU men's basketball team returned to the court Saturday evening as they hosted Simpson. The Blue and Gold came into the game looking for their fourth win in a row.
 
The Mountaineer offense and defense both delivered, helping EOU win 95-73. Senior forward Bryan McGriff led the way for EOU with 30 points, nine rebounds and one assist.
 
The dominate win was not only the fourth win of 2016 for EOU, it was also head coach Isaac Williams' 100th career win for the Blue and Gold. Williams previously coached the Mountaineers from 2009-2013.

Almost as soon as the game began the EOU offense was on the ball, shooting just under 60 percent in the first 10 minutes. In those first few minutes, McGriff jump-started EOU (4-1), shooting six for eight with 14 points and a pair of threes.
 
With less than three minutes in the first stanza, Simpson (1-6), cut what was at one point a 17-point lead to only a five point lead. However, junior guard Cole Ashby hit a pair of free throws to build the lead back to seven and started the Mounties on a 7-0 run, lifting the score to 51-39 just as the first-half ended.
 
McGriff notched 22 points in the first half while senior guard Kentrell Washington nabbed six points while dishing out five assists in the first.
 
In the second, freshman guard Max McCullough netting the first shot of the second half with a three thanks to an assist from Washington. It would be McCullough's 12th point of the game. The freshman finished the night with 16 points, four assists and a board.
 
As the second half continued so did the rain of threes as McGriff drilled a pair of threes to give EOU an 18-point lead, 65-47 with 16 minutes to play.
 
Junior guard Matt Wong extended EOU's lead to 21, 72-51 at the 13 and a half-minute mark, thanks to hitting a short jumper after confusing the Simpson defenders as he dribbled around the baseline. Wong's basket helped cap off an EOU 10-4 run.
 
It would be all Mountaineers from there, as the Blue and Gold would build a lead by as many as 30 points. When the night was over, EOU shot 47 percent, scored 23 points off turnovers and nabbed 39 total rebounds.
 
BY THE NUMBERS
 
85 – Percent shot EOU for the free throw line
30 – Points scored by McGriff to lead EOU
15 – Turnovers forced by the EOU defense
 
UP NEXT
EOU takes on Simpson again tomorrow with tip-off scheduled for 1 p.m.

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