LA GRANDE, Ore. – The Mountaineers did their best to give a late scare to No. 4 ranked College of Idaho. The visiting Yotes jumped out to a comfortable lead in the first half, but the Mountaineers battled their way back to make it a game in the second. Despite a valiant effort, the Mounties fell to the Yotes, 70-58. The loss drops Eastern to 5-4 while College of Idaho moves to 8-1 on the year.
The first half looked as though College of Idaho might run away with the win jumping out to an early lead. An 8-0 run capped off by a Johnny Radford three for the Yotes gave College of Idaho their first double digit lead of the day with 9:14 on the clock. The Mounties couldn't bite into that lead as College of Idaho continued to build on it towards the end of the first half. College of Idaho's Samaje Morgan gave the Yotes their biggest lead of the day to that point knocking down a three at the buzzer to make it 38-22.
With a tall task ahead of them, the Mounties went to work in the second half refusing to roll over. After trading shots early in the half, Eastern gradually started working their way back into the game. The turning point came midway through the half when
Phillip Malatare sank a runner in the paint to cut C of I's lead to less than 10 making it 52-44 with 10:22 left. Malatare continued to pace the Mountaineer offense, refusing to let the Yotes pull away. The guard led all scorers in the second half with 14 after scoring just four in the first half. As time ticked down the Mounties drew closer, coming to within just four points after a couple of
Malachi Afework free throws. With just over a minute left on the clock, that was the closest Eastern came. The last minute turned into fouls and free throws allowing College of Idaho to rebuild their lead and take a 70-58 win.
Eastern will take Saturday off this week and return to CCC action next Friday, Dec. 16 against Warner Pacific. The Mountaineers will host the Knights inside Quinn Coliseum with tipoff set for 7:30 p.m.
BY THE NUMBERS
- Both teams had uncharacteristic nights from beyond the arc, each shooting below 30%
- The Yotes held the advantage on the boards outrebounding the Mounties 38-26 and scoring 10 second chance points
- College of Idaho never trailed at any point in the game
- Eastern had a strong night defensively inside blocking six shots, their highest mark of the year
STANDOUT PERFORMANCES:
- C of I
- Jake O'Neil: 11 PTS, 5-8 FG, 10 REB, 1 AST, 1 STL
- Straton Rogers: 10 PTS, 4-5 FG, 11 REB, 2 AST, 2 STL
- Drew Wyman: 14 PTS, 4-9 FG, 4 REB,
- EOU
- Phillip Malatare: 18 PTS, 8-19 FG, 2-5 3PT, 5 REB, 5 AST, 1 BLK
- Ismael Valdez: 10 PTS, 4-5 FG, 5 REB, 2 BLK, 1 AST, 1 STL