by By William McLaughlin, EOU Communications
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The NAIA has released its 2021-22 All-America Teams for men’s basketball and for the first time since 2019-20 Eastern Oregon has had a player make the list.
Garnering All-America status for the Mountaineers was junior guard Phillip Malatare (Salish/Kootenai) who was tabbed Honorable Mention for the year. An impact player right out the gate, Malatare was also tabbed First Team All-CCC and was named the Newcomer of the Year at the conference level earlier this year. Malatare is the first All-American for EOU since 2019-20 and is the first under Interim Head Coach Chris Kemp.
Malatare was the Mountaineers’ go-to option on offense this season as he averaged 19.2 points per game in 27 games played. He started 26 contests and averaged 30.6 minutes per game. His 19.2 points per game were second highest in the league as he shot 48% from the floor. He shot 83.3% from the free throw line, which was fourth best in the CCC. He was eighth in steals at 1.4 per game and ranked 10th in assists at 3.3 per game. He was also 13th in the CCC in rebounding at 5.9 per game. He scored in double figures in 24 games this year and had an EOU career high of 29 points against Whitman College. He also posted five double-doubles on the year.
