LA GRANDE, Ore. – Determined to send its seniors out with a win on senior night, the 16th-ranked EOU men's basketball team came back from an 11-point deficit to defeat the No. 15 Owls of Oregon Tech, 83-73.
 
In the win, the Mountaineers revenged a 98-81 loss to the Owls in January, extended their home winning streak to 12 games and took sole possession of second place in the CCC.
 
EOU (21-6, 14-4 CCC), notched two players with double digit scoring as the senior duo of guard Kentrell Washington and forward Bryan McGriff combined for 55 points.
 
Leading the way was Washington who chalked up a season high 38 points, 9 boards, four assists and a pair of blocks, while going 4-for-7 from behind the arc. McGriff tallied his 13th double-double on the season as the Las Vegas native put up 17 points, 19 rebounds, two assists and a pair of blocks.
 
As a team the Blue and Gold shot 40 percent from field goal range while going 37.5 percent from three-point land. EOU out rebounded the Owls, 53-47 but Oregon Tech (20-8, 13-5 CCC), carded more assists, 13-12.
 
To start the first, EOU got things going quickly with a 10-2 run, capped off by a Washington trey. Of the first 10 points for the Mountaineers, Washington scored seven while junior wing Austin Winegar had the other three, off of a three.  
 
The Owls refused to give in so easily and quickly went off on a 12-2 run, taking the lead from EOU with a Brandon Halter layup. The Mounties then went on a 9-3 run, retaking the lead 21-17 with 11 minutes to play until the break.
 
Later in the first with the Owls up 33-28, a two-point jump shot from freshman guard Max McCullough cut the lead to only three (33-30). However, Oregon Tech simply dominated the final four and a half minutes, outscoring EOU 14-6, including a halftime buzzer beater from Tyler Hieb. At the break Owls led, 47-36.
 
EOU was red hot to start the second stanza as the Blue and Gold cut the Tech lead to only one-point, 49-48 with a 12-2 run capped off by a pair of triples from senior wing Travis Meeker and Washington.
 
The Mountaineers regained the lead two minutes later, 54-51 with another huge three this time from junior guard Cole Ashby. Yet, two minutes later the Owls retook the lead thanks to a two-pointer from Mitchell Fink (58-56).
 
A McGriff lay-in at the 9:25 mark retook the lead for Eastern, 60-58 and the Mounties refused to look back, keeping the lead the rest of the way.
 
With 3:39 left to play EOU took its largest lead of the game (15 points), with another huge three-pointer from Ashby. A Yellow Owl jumper at the 1:25 mark cut the Mountaineer lead to nine but the deficit was too much with too little clock left.
 
BY THE NUMBERS
55 – Combined points for McGriff and Washington.
40 – Percent from field goal range shot EOU.
100 – Total rebounds between the Mountaineers and the Owls.
 
UP NEXT
EOU takes on i84 rival College of Idaho in Caldwell on Thursday. Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m. To follow live stats/video, click here.
 
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