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Jordan Meyer

Men's Basketball Spencer Jones, EOU Sports Information Assistant

Men’s Basketball: 2018-19 Season Preview

 LA GRANDE, Ore. – The Mountaineers will look to improve on their fourth place finish in CCC play last season, but will need some newcomers to fill important roles left by recent graduates of the program.

The men's basketball team will open their season this weekend when Eastern Oregon plays host to the Quinn Classic tournament. The Mounties will play two games, their first is this Friday at 4 p.m. against Salish Kootenai, and again on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. against New Hope Christian.

The Blue and Gold are projected for a fifth place finish in the Cascade Collegiate Conference preseason coaches' poll. Last season, EOU finished 21-8 overall, and 13-7 in conference en route to a tie for fourth place in the conference with Southern Oregon. The College of Idaho took the conference last season going 30-7 and 18-2 CCC, and edged out Oregon Tech to be the favorite to repeat as conference champions this year with 113 points compared to the Owls' 111 points in the preseason poll.

In 2017-18, the Mountaineers' season ended with a loss in the conference tournament in the first round to (RV) Southern Oregon, after beating the Raiders just four days prior in the regular season finale. The Mounties lost a few key players since last year, but a group of enthusiastic newcomers will look to make some noise in conference action this season.

Key Returners:

Max McCullough led the Mountaineers last season with 22.2 points per game on 49.1 percent shooting. The All-American guard got to the foul line twice as often as any other Mountaineer, and took advantage of it shooting 88.7 percent at the stripe. He also had a team high in assists averaging 3.9 per game, and grabbed 3.2 rebounds per game. Going into his junior season, McCullough will look to take another step forward and lead this team to a successful season.

Jordan May is another player to be excited about, coming off of an impressive freshman campaign. May, also a guard, averaged 16.1 points per game, second on the team behind McCullough. May shot very efficiently as a freshman, and excelled behind the arc hitting 41.4 percent of his three-point jumpers. He added 2 assists and 3.3 rebounds per game on top of his effective scoring.

Forward Peter Eke will look to have a big senior season for the Mounties after playing in 29 games last year. At 6'7", Eke led the team in rebounds per game with 6.3 and total blocks at 26 despite averaging less than 20 minutes a game.

Exciting Newcomers:

The biggest newcomer is the seven foot center transfer from Treasure Valley CC, Jarek Schetzle. In his sophomore season at Treasure Valley, Schetzle averaged 11.6 points per game, 7.0 rebounds, and 1.4 blocks per game while shooting over 57 percent from the floor. As one of the tallest players in the conference, the junior forward will create matchup problems for opposing teams, while adding rim protection and solid low-post play to the Mountaineers in 2018.  

Joel Anderson is another important addition that will impact the Mounties in a big way this year. Anderson heads to Eastern Oregon after becoming one of the top point guards at the junior college level. Anderson led the nation in assists during his freshman year with 9.9 per game while also scoring 18.8 points per game with an average of 5.1 rebounds. During his sophomore year, he increased his offense to 20.7 points per game, while averaging 5.3 assists and 6.3 rebounds. Look for Anderson to mesh with returners McCullough and May to create a dynamic backcourt capable of putting up points in a hurry and setting up their teammates.
 
Schedule:

EOU has nine games slated before conference play begins on November 30, when Southern Oregon will come into Quinn Coliseum. The matchup with the Red Raiders is a rematch of the Mounties last game of 2017-18, where they were bounced by SOU in the first round.

After opening conference play with two games in La Grande, the Blue and Gold will go on the road and play three games in four days, facing off with Northwest Christian in Eugene December 15 and Corban on December 16, before finishing with C of I in Caldwell.  The Coyotes finished as the No. 3 team in the final NAIA coaches poll after a 27-6 season, and are the reigning CCC champions.

The first matchups of 2019 are against Evergreen and Northwest at Quinn Coliseum. After the brief home stint, the Mountaineers will head west for two games in Portland against Multnomah and Warner Pacific. The Knights ended last season as the No. 12 team in the NAIA.

January 18 to 26 marks the longest home stand of the year for EOU, playing five-straight conference games hosting Corban, Northwest Christian, College of Idaho, and Walla Walla for a pair of contests.

The Mountaineers will travel to western Washington after the home stand to play Evergreen in Olympia and Northwest in Kirkland. Then, on February 8 and 9 the Mounties play their final home games of the season against Multnomah and Warner Pacific.

The regular season will come to an end February 16 against SOU, then the Cascade Conference tournament will begin Feb. 20 at campus sites.
 
For more information on Eastern Oregon men's basketball, follow @EOUAthletics or visit eousports.com.
 
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Contact: Iain Dexter; 541-962-3946; idexter@eou.edu
 
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Players Mentioned

Max McCullough

#15 Max McCullough

G
5' 11"
Sophomore
Jordan May

#22 Jordan May

G
6' 3"
Freshman
Peter Eke

#30 Peter Eke

F
6' 7"
Junior
Jarek Schetzle

#25 Jarek Schetzle

C
7' 0"
Junior

Players Mentioned

Max McCullough

#15 Max McCullough

5' 11"
Sophomore
G
Jordan May

#22 Jordan May

6' 3"
Freshman
G
Peter Eke

#30 Peter Eke

6' 7"
Junior
F
Jarek Schetzle

#25 Jarek Schetzle

7' 0"
Junior
C