by Dawson Forcella
COLLEGE PLACE, Wash. – The Mountaineers jumped out to a big first half lead Saturday night and had to fight off a late comeback attempt from Walla Walla to take the 81-77 win. With the win the Mountaineers advance to 9-4 on the year and 6-1 in CCC play.
Eastern dominated the first half thanks to the trio of Phillip Malatare, Emmit Taylor III, and Adam Orr. The three accounted for 36 of EOU’s 47 first half points. The Mounties grabbed an early lead and never surrendered it going ahead by as much 19 with around five and a half minutes left. A late Taylor three made it a 15-point game going into the half, 47-32.
The tables turned in the second half as the Wolves were able to rally and find some momentum. Walla Walla’s Caleb Golden and Andrew Vaughan shouldered the load for the Wolves scoring 18 and 16 points respectively in the last half. Walla Walla came out of the break with their foot on the gas going on an 11-0 run to make it a six-point game, 49-43. From there the two teams traded blows seemingly going shot for shot the rest of the evening. Eastern was able to stave off the Walla Walla comeback taking the 81-77 win.
Eastern Oregon returns home for their upcoming games starting off another weekend of CCC play with a 7:30 p.m. tipoff against Northwest on Friday. The Mountaineers will host the Eagles in Quinn Coliseum.
BY THE NUMBERS
- Despite trailing in all shooting percentage categories, the Mounties were still able to take the win
- Again, the Mountie bench played a big role putting up 38 points for Eastern
- The Mounties won the battle in the paint scoring 34 points inside to Walla Walla’s 24
STANDOUT MOUNTIE PERFORMANCES
- Phillip Malatare: 24 PTS, 9-15 FG, 1-4 3PT, 4 AST, 3 REB, 5 STL, 1 BLK
- Emmit Taylor III: 24 PTS, 9-17 FG, 4-8 3PT, 1 REB, 1 STL, 1 BLK
