LA GRANDE, Ore. - The Mountaineers came out on the attack Friday afternoon with a physical edge dominating the boards and paint. Eastern took a 91-53 victory over the Wolves to move to 14-6 overall and 11-3 in conference play. The loss moves Walla Walla to 1-18 overall and 1-13 in CCC action.
The last time these two teams met it came down to the end but Eastern was determined to put away the Wolves early this time.
Adam Orr started off the game on fire knocking down three shots from deep to put the Mounties up 9-3 two minutes in. A
Preston Chandler dunk on the backend of a lob only added to the momentum and lead with Eastern's next score. From there the Mounties steadily increased their lead through the first half that was ended with an exclamation point when
Slade Dill slammed home a putback at the buzzer to give Eastern a 44-26 lead at the break.
With a comfortable 18-point lead going into the last 20 minutes, the Mounties didn't let off the gas. Eastern worked their way up to a 40-point lead thanks to 13 second half points from
Preston Chandler on 5-5 shooting. The rest of the team chipped in as well to put the Wolves away as 10 other Mounties got on the board scoring. A last-minute layup by Britt Murray kept WWU within 40 as Eastern took the 91-53 victory over the Wolves.
Next up for the Mountaineers is a 6 p.m. tipoff against Lewis-Clark State tomorrow evening. Eastern will host the 9-11 Warriors in Quinn Coliseum to wrap up the weekend.
BY THE NUMBERS
- The Mounties had one of their strongest games of the year in the paint scoring 44 points inside while hauling in 50 rebounds
- Preston Chandler had arguably his best game of he year putting up a season-high 21 points on an efficient 9-11 shooting
- Offensive rebounds paid off as Eastern was able to put up 14 second chance points compared to Walla Walla's 6
STANDOUT PERFORMANCES
- EOU
- Preston Chandler: 21 PTS, 9-11 FG, 1-1 3PT, 6 REB, 1 BLK, 1 AST
- Adam Orr: 15 PTS, 4-8 3PT, 2 REB, 1 AST, 1 STL
- Phillip Malatare: 12 PTS, 5-11 FG, 10 REB, 3 AST, 2 STL
- WWU
- Caleb Golden: 14 PTS, 5-11 FG, 1 REB
