Eastern Oregon solidifies itself in conference race with victory
Barrett Henderson, Sports Information Director
2/5/2010 11:15:55 PM
CALDWELL, Idaho -- The No. 20 Eastern Oregon University men's basketball team picked up a big victory at The College of Idaho Friday, 75-63.
The Mountaineers (18-6) (11-3) are now two wins from the fourth consecutive 20-win season. EOU won its fourth consecutive game, and completed a season sweep over The College of Idaho. Dan Stafford recorded a team-high 18 points for Eastern, which marked the 33rd time in his career with the Mountaineers he scored in double figures. Jordan Gregg added 15 points for EOU.
The Coyotes (8-13, 4-10) did not make it easy, using a 10-2 run early in the second half to grab a 40-37 lead on a Kelvin Potts runner with 15 minutes left. However, a Stafford triple sparked a 7-0 Eastern run that gave them the lead for good, pushing the margin to 53-49.
From that point, the relentless rebounding of EOU took over, with their next nine tallies coming on second-chance points, followed by a Jacques Wilson triple with three minutes left, giving the Mounties a 65-55 lead.
The Yotes were led by Craig McGee, who logged a season-high 28 points and ten rebounds, with Jabari McIntosh adding 13 points. The two big-men combined for 15-of-21 shooting from the floor, with the remaining players going just 9-for-33 from the field, including 1-of-12 from three-point range.
Eastern is 17-4 this season when out-rebounding opponents, 14-3 when scoring 70 points, and 11-0 when holding opponents under 70 points.
The Mountaineers move into a first place tie with Oregon Tech (22-4) (11-3) in the Cascade Collegiate Conference with only four games remaining in the regular season. EOU travels to Corban College (6-19) (1-13) next Friday and Northwest Christian the following night to close the 2009-10 road schedule. The Beacons (11-15) (7-7) upset No. 7 Warner Pacific in Portland Friday.