by William McLaughlin, EOU communications
LA GRANDE, Ore. – Mountaineer Men’s Basketball picked up its conference win of the season Saturday night with an 88-70 thrashing of Walla Walla University inside Quinn Coliseum. The win brings Eastern Oregon’s record to 6-6 overall and 1-4 in conference play.
How it Happened
• Both teams shot the ball well but EOU had a sizable edge going 35-62 for 56.5%, while WWU (1-10, 0-5 CCC) was 25-56 for 44.6%.
• Three-point shooting greatly favored the Mountaineers and played a key role in the win as they went 13-26 for 50%. They held the Wolves to just 8-20 from deep for 40%.
• Bench play and points in the paint also helped guide Eastern to the home win as their reserves outscored Walla Walla’s bench 26-17. In the paint EOU had the advantage scoring wise at 28-16.
• In the game’s opening minutes EOU had a great start racing out to a 7-0 lead on WWU. The Wolves battled back though ang managed to get within two, 13-11, in the first seven minutes.
• Eastern managed to stay in front until the 10:47 mark of the half as Walla Walla tied the game at 19-all on a three pointer. The Wolves then led 21-19 at the midway point to make things interesting.
• Despite going up by two, the Wolves lead was short lived as an 11-0 run by EOU opened the game up. A jumper by Ryne Andreason started the run for EOU and it was capped on a triple from Xavier Lovelace to give EOU a 32-21 lead
• The Mountaineers’ 11-0 run was a lengthy one starting at 9:02 in the half and ended at the 4:30 mark. The run ultimately helped Eastern take a 40-28 lead into halftime.
• Eastern outscored Walla Walla 21–7 in the final nine minutes of the first half to grab a 12-point lead at the break. EOU shot 50% going 15-30 from the floor and held the Wolves to 10-29 shooting for 34.5%.
• The second half saw the two teams traded points the whole way but EOU held the slight edge scoring 48 points while Walla Walla had 42. Helping the second half become a shootout was a combined 12 made three pointers.
• Despite the high scoring affair in the second half, the Mountaineers never allowed the Wolves to cut their deficit to single digits. The Wolves got within 11 early on, 42-31, while EOU led by as much as 26 a pair of times late in the game.
• Eastern hit the 88-point mark with just under two minutes to play in the second half when Manny N’tula hit a jumper in the paint. Made jump shots by Andreason and N’tula in the final minutes gave EOU its largest lead of 26 as they ultimately cruised to the 18-point win.
Mountaineers Stat Leaders
• Phillip Malatare once again paced the offense with 20 points. He was 9-10 from the field and dished out four assists.
• Xavier Lovelace added 14 points on 50% shooting (5-10) and went 3-6 from deep. He grabbed five boards as well.
• Zane Wright shot 5-6 overall and 3-4 from beyond the arc for 13 points.
• Justin Jeske led the way in the glass cleanup with a game best nine rebounds and chipped in six points.
