Kyle Miller leads the Mounties with 20 points against Cascade College.
LA GRANDE, Ore- There is a reason why Cascade College has been within five points in four of their seven losses in the Cascade Conference. Cascade didn't back down tonight against Eastern Oregon. Halfway through the first half, the T-Birds took the lead 18-17. The two teams continued to battle into intermission; EOU was ahead by a small margin 34-30.
The second half started off a lot like the first half. It wasn't until about half way through the second half when Cascade began to take their biggest lead of the game. EOU's Kyle Miller stepped up to knock down a couple big shots and teammates Sasha Valdez and Alyssa Garro followed by a couple back to back 3 pointers. EOU went on a run against the T-Birds and took the largest lead of the game, 69-56.
Once again, Cascade didn't back down and began to answer back from behind the arc. Cascade got back within three points of the Mountaineers, 73-70 with a few minutes left in the contest. It took every single one of EOU's free-throws to clinch the win, 85-79. Salena Leavitt shot 10 for 10 from the line, and as a team Eastern shot 24 for 25 (96%) from the free-throw line.
Kyle Miller sparked the Mountie offense with 20 points, 7 boards, and 3 assists. Also in double figures was Tana Stickney with 17 points and 8 boards, Salena Leavitt added 12 points, and Jenny Fiso pitched in 12 points and five assists.
The Mounties, now 7-3 in conference play, will be back in action this weekend as they hit the road to Portland, Oregon to face the Knights of Warner Pacific (9-10, 5-5 CCC) and face, again this week, the T-Birds of Cascade College (8-8, 1-8 CCC).