Eastern Oregon Falls Short to Simpson
LA GRANDE, Ore. - Eastern Oregon University's Men's Basketball, second half, comeback against Simpson University fell short as EOU was defeated, 84-81, in their home opener. The Mountaineers used a strong second half to battle back after trailing by 14 points at halftime.
Casa Rada led Eastern Oregon with 24 points and three rebounds. Rada went 5-10 from behind the arch and 7-11 from the line.
Deonta Edwards followed with 18 points and six rebounds , while
Bryan McGriff contributed a double-double on the night with 13 points and 10 rebounds.
Shaquille Jones led the evening for Simpson University with 19 points and four rebounds. Jonnie Washburn also contributed with 17 points and three rebounds.
The Red Hawks started out fast and pulled away from the Mountaineers. In the first nine minutes of the game, Simpson led by 11 points, 30-19, after a three pointer by Jones. Eastern Oregon continued to battle but could never get the Red Hawks lead cut down to less than eight points. Each time EOU got within eight, Simpson continued to grow its lead back to double-digits.
The Mountaineers found themselves down by as many as 17 points, 53-36, with one minute and 30 seconds to go in the half. Eastern Oregon slowly started to chip away and trimmed the score to a 14 point, 55-41, halftime deficit after a three by Rada.
Eastern Oregon started to battle back in the second half of the contest. Within the first six minutes of the second half, the Mountaineers trimmed the Red Hawks lead down to seven points, 60-53, after a Rada three pointer.
The Mountaineers continued to battle and mount its comeback and after a McGriff three pointer, EOU found themselves down three points, 70-67, with 9:29 to play in the game. EOU kept the game close and did not let Simpson take a lead over ten points for the remainder of the game.
Eastern Oregon's
De'Sean Mattox brought the Mountaineers to a one point game when he hit a three point basket with a 1:25 on the clock, making it 80-79. Simpson answered EOU's shot with a layup by Shaquille Jones taking Simpson back to a three point lead. With 27 seconds to go
Michael Crane brought the score back to a one point deficit but EOU did not have enough time to score again and fell, 84-81.
Eastern Oregon will take the court again tomorrow at 4:30 p.m. when they take on Simpson University.