LA GRANDE, Ore. – The No. 15 Eastern Oregon University men’s basketball team capped off the 2009-10 regular season with a 113-76 rout over No. 24 Evergreen State, Saturday.
The 113 points scored by EOU was the most scored by the Mountaineers since Nov. 14, 2006, when Eastern scored 122 in victory over Walla Walla College. 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.
The Mountaineers (21-7) (14-4) blew open a top 25 match-up with 57 percent shooting from the field in the first half. Evergreen had the lead for the first three minutes, including its largest lead of the game, 6-2. EOU would take the lead, but TESC kept things close until the 7:48 mark in the first half when the score was 33-30.
Eastern then made its run. Over the next seven minutes the Mountaineers went on a 25-5 run to close the half. EOU led at halftime, 58-37. Eastern Oregon continued to stretch its lead in the second half, and led 84-56 with 11:32 remaining in regulation. The Mountaineers still had one more run in them. EOU took its largest lead of the game after an 18-5 run, giving Eastern a 102-61 lead with 6:35 remaining in the game.
The Mountaineers finished with six players scoring in double figures. Josh Landsverk scored a game-high 24 points. That point total gave the senior his career high on Senior Night. All five seniors scored double digits, led by Landsverk, but Dan Stafford added 18 points, Jordan Gregg had 17, Steven Sawyers finished with 14, and Jacques Wilson chipped in 12. Junior Josh Cottle finished with 11 points and a game-high seven assists. Gregg added a game-high 12 rebounds.
Eastern Oregon made 10 of its 21 three-point attempts, while the Geoducks (19-9) (12-6) were 6 for 22. Evergreen had four double-digit scorers led by Nathan Menefee’s 22 points. Anthony Gallagher finished with 16 points, and Amos Saffold and Josh Troyer each had 12 points.
The victory was the 25th in a row for the Mountaineers in Quinn Coliseum during the regular season over a conference opponent. Eastern Oregon won 30 of the 31 games at home in the regular season over the past two seasons. EOU's record at home in the past 57 games is now 53-4.
The victory completes a Mountaineer sweep over TESC in the regular season. Eastern will be the second seed in the conference tournament which begins Wednesday. EOU hosts seventh-seeded Concordia (15-14) (5-13). The Cavaliers have lost five straight games going into the postseason. Eastern swept CU during the regular season. Wednesday’s quarterfinal contest tips off at 7:30 p.m.