LA GRANDE, Ore.- The No. 20 Mountaineers ran into a hot shooting Multnomah Lions squad Saturday evening and had to rely on a late second half surge to pull away and pick up their sixth straight official win and move to 5-0 in conference play. The Mounties topped the Lions 91-77 moving to 8-1 overall on the season. The loss drops Multnomah to 3-8 and 1-4 in conference play.
The first half went back and forth seeing a total of four lead changes with neither team able to find an advantage. Both teams got off to a strong start shooting as each team shot over 50% from the field in the first half. What was most impressive was the long ball, both teams shot 70% from beyond the arc in the first half on 10 attempts each.
Bayley Brennan of EOU and Elise Graham from Multnomah both lead the way going 3-3 from range. Halfway through the Mounties held a slight four-point lead, 49-45.
A short halftime break seemed to cool down Multnomah as the Mountaineers took control of the game in the second half. Down the stretch the shots weren't falling the same for Lions as they dropped off going 12-31 in the second half while the Mounties pressed on outscoring the Lions by 10 in the last half. Consistent shooting and another big night on the glass helped lead the Mounties to the 91-77 win.
Eastern Oregon will hit the road one more time before the holidays heading down to Chandler, Arizona for the Cactus Classic. The Mounties are slated to take on Montana State-Northern for their first game Wednesday followed by their second matchup of the year with Montana Tech on Thursday.
BY THE NUMBERS
- The Mounties continue to prove they are one of the best shooting teams in the country knocking down the three ball at a clip of 61.1% on the evening
- Depth may have hurt the Lions as the Mounties were able to rely on their bench down the stretch putting up 31 points to Multnomah's six bench points
- Multnomah's Elise Graham had a monster night putting up 33 points almost single handedly keeping the Lions in the game
STANDOUT PERFORMANCES
- EOU
- Bayley Brennan: 24 PTS, 9-13 FG, 6-7 3PT, 3 REB, 2 AST
- Sailor Liefke: 15 PTS, 6-9 FG, 2-2 3PT, 7 AST, 3 REB, 1 STL
- Beverly Slater: 12 PTS, 5-8 FG, 11 REB, 4 AST, 1 STL
- MU
- Elise Graham: 33 PTS, 12-19 FG, 6-7 3PT, 2 REB, 2 STL
- Alaygza Portis: 10 PTS, 4-9 FG, 5 REB, 3 STL, 2 BLK, 2 AST
- Kaela Stonebarger: 13 PTS, 5-9 FG, 3-5 3PT, 1 REB, 1 AST
