MEN'S BASKETBALL
Like the women's basketball team, the Eastern Oregon University men's basketball team was selected fifth in the Cascade Collegiate Conference preseason coaches' poll. And, just like the women, the men finished its year in the NAIA National Tournament.
The Mountaineers advance to the national Sweet 16 for the third consecutive season, won 20 games for the fourth consecutive season, and finished in second place in the conference standings. They went from receiving 11 votes in the national preseason poll to a final ranking of 13th nationally
Eastern had a rough start to its season when Montana Western ended a 20-game regular season win streak in Quinn Coliseum to open the home schedule. EOU responded by beating Montana Tech by 27 points and Walla Walla University by 28 points.
After losing two of three in Big Sky country, the Mountaineers may have had their turning point of the season in Lewiston, Idaho. Eastern Oregon eased to a pair of wins to win the Cannon Building Materials Tournament hosted by Lewis-Clark State. EOU beat Montana State-Northern, 68-50, and then topped LCSC, 73-47.
Eastern opened the conference schedule with a No. 23 national ranking, and picked up a win at The Evergreen State College. Northwest University handed EOU a loss the following night in overtime.
The Mountaineers had a near upset over the University of Idaho slip away by five points in an exhibition game in their next contest. After a 15-point win over Southern Oregon, Eastern beat the nation's fifth-ranked team, Oregon Tech, in La Grande. It marked the fifth-straight win for EOU over the Hustlin' Owls in Quinn Coliseum. It was also the second time in a row OIT came to the Grande Ronde Valley with a top five ranking, and leave with a loss.
Eastern Oregon closed the year with a 24-point win at Concordia, and a tough 88-80 loss at No. 9
Warner Pacific College. The Mountaineers would reel off four straight wins and enter a NAIA national game of the week against Oregon Tech with a No. 18 national ranking.
EOU fell behind No. 3 OIT by 20 points with 16 minutes left in the game at Danny Miles Court, a place Eastern has not won since 1979. The Mountaineers then made an incredible 37-18 run over the next 15 minutes to cut the lead to one point with one minute remaining in regulation. However, Tech would end up escaping with a 72-67 win.
Eastern would go on another four-game win streak and climb to No. 13 in the country. One of the wins was a 92-85 victory over No. 5 Warner Pacific. EOU led the Knights by 20 points twice in the second half. The Mountaineers have won 11 out of the last 12 meetings against top 25 teams in La Grande. EOU has won five out of the last six meetings with a top five team in Quinn Coliseum.
The Mountaineers closed the regular season on a three-game win streak, beginning with a dramatic one-point win at Northwest Christian University.
Jordan Gregg hit a free throw with no time remaining in regulation to put EOU past the Beacons.
Eastern ended the season in record setting fashion on Senior Night with a 113-76 win over No. 24 Evergreen State. The 113 points scored by EOU was the most scored by the Mountaineers since Nov. 14, 2006. It was the most points scored by Eastern Oregon in a Cascade Collegiate Conference game since 1994, when EOU tallied 115 in a win over Southern Oregon.
EOU entered the conference tournament with a second seed and beat Concordia in the first round, 93-80. Warner Pacific upset Eastern in La Grande in the semifinals, 64-61. The Mountaineers would then receive a No. 14 seed in the national tournament, the third straight year EOU received a seed in the national field of 32.
Eastern Oregon rallied from a 12-point first half deficit and a 10-point halftime deficit, to beat No. 19 Davenport University, 74-69. The Mountaineers drew the third seed in the tournament, Indiana Wesleyan, in the second round. EOU and the Wildcats went back-and-forth in the first half, and Eastern led 25-23 at halftime. IWU would rally and make a run to open the second half and end up winning, 70-57.
Gregg finished his two-year career at EOU with 20 double-doubles, 16 coming this season. The senior became only the second men's basketball player in the school's history to be named second team All-American. Gregg and
Dan Stafford were each named All-Conference. Stafford was also an Academic All-American.
Head coach Isaac Williams had the best first year among any of the active coaches in the Cascade Conference.
Josh Landsverk's 95 career wins is more than any other player in EOU history. Eastern was 12-1 when holding opponents under 70 points, 13-0 when shooting 50 percent or better from the field, and was 21-1 when it had a better field goal percentage than its opponent.
The Mountaineers currently ride a 25-game win streak against conference opponents during the regular season in Quinn Coliseum. EOU has won 30 out of the last 31 regular season games in La Grande. Eastern Oregon has won 54 of the last 59 games at home.
