LA GRANDE, Ore. – Mountaineer Men's Basketball picked up its second straight win of the season Tuesday night taking down NCAA Division III foe Linfield University, 82-64, at home. With the win, the Mountaineers improve to 7-6 on the year.

How it Happened
• Field goal percentage played in EOU's favor in the win as the team shot 47% overall and held the Wildcats (6-3) to 35.9% from the floor. EOU also won the rebounding battle, 44-34.
• Three-point shooting was also key in the win for the Mountaineers who nailed 11 shots from beyond the arc on 26 attempts for 42.3%, while they held Linfield to 27.6% on 8-29 shooting.
• The Wildcats had the edge in both bench points, 24-25, and points in the paint, 24-12, but it was fastbreak points that led EOU to the win with a 22-7 edge.
• EOU battled back early on from a 5-0 deficit early on and grabbed an 8-5 edge on a Zane Wright triple. The two teams traded points and it was an 18-17 lead for EOU midway through.
• The game was tied at 23-all with 7:06 left to play in the half before a 9-2 run by Linfield gave the team a 32-25 lead with just under six minutes to play in the half.
• The Wildcats managed to lead by as much as seven a pair of times late in the half but closed the gap to just one before the break.
• Six points from Malatare to close out the half out helped EOU stay within one, 37-36. Eastern shot 40.6% from the field and had eight fastbreak points to keep things close.
• In the second half, the Mountaineers surged on offense and were stout on defense as they scored 46 points and held the Wildcats to just 27 in the same frame.
• The two squads traded points through the first 10 minutes of the second half before a quick surge from Linfield gave the team a five-point edge. The surge gave the Wildcats a 62-57 lead with 8:13 to play in the game.
• As the game progressed, it was close over the next four minutes before EOU put the game away for good. EOU called a timeout with 3:46 to play leading 68-64 and never let the Wildcats score the rest of the night.
• Out of the short breather, EOU dominated the rest of the game with a 16-0 run to close out the game. The Wildcats had no answer to the surge as they succumbed to the 18-point loss, 82-64.

Mountaineers Stat Leaders
• Zane Wright had a solid night scoring 25 points on 9-16 shooting and was a staggering 7-11 from deep.
• Phillip Malatare added 24 points on a 50% shooting performance (10-20). He also grabbed five rebounds and dished out six assists to go along with four steals.
• Xavier Lovelace grabbed a career-high 13 boards to lead all players and chipped in nine points.
• Preston Chandler had seven points and seven rebounds in the win.

For the Wildcats
• Casron Bonine led the offense with 15 points 5-10 shooting and had four rebounds.
• Max Lommen led the team in rebounds with eight and chipped in eight points.
• Aaron Baune added nine points in the loss to go along with four boards.

By the Numbers
8 - EOU has now scored 80 or more points in its last two games.
3 - The Mountaineers are now 3-1 at home this season. 
10- Easter has nailed 10-plus three pointers in each of their last two games.
9 - The Mountaineers have now outrebounded their opposition in nine games this year.
1 - Zane Wright was one point shy of tying his EOU career-high for points in a game.

Up Next
• The Mountaineers will not return to the hardwood until the end of the calendar year with a pair of road CCC games. EOU will face Corban on Dec. 31 at 7:30 p.m., followed by Bushnell on Jan. 1 at 5 p.m

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