LA GRANDE, Ore. – Senior guard Case Rada posted a game-high 21 points, and the Eastern Oregon University men’s basketball team shot nearly 56 percent en route to earning a 85-54 victory over Corban on Saturday night at Quinn Coliseum.
The Mountaineers (12-11, 7-6 CCC) led by as many as 33 points and tallied 23 assists on the evening.
KEY PERFORMANCES
Rada made eight of his 12 shots, including a pair of triples for EOU. Junior guard Kentrell Washington added 12 points, 16 rebounds, and seven assists, while senior center Kalvin Johanson and sophomore forward Brandon Hoston added 11 and 10 points, respectively.
Corban (11-9, 5-7 CCC) saw both Cyrus Ward and AJ Monterossi put up 19 points in the losing effort.
THE STORYLINE
The opening 10 minutes of the first half saw a back-and-forth affair between the two CCC foes, as Ward knocked down two-straight jumpers to cut EOU’s advantage to one, 17-16. Rada netted a pair at the charity stripe, and then senior center Christian Parrott mustered back-to-back jumpers to spark an 18-4 run and give the Mountaineers a 35-20 edge with 4:45 left.
EOU took a 37-27 lead into the locker room. The Mountaineers hit 62.5 percent (15-for-24) of their shots while holding the Warriors to a 38.2 percent (13-for-34) clip.
The Navy and Gold racked up 11 unanswered to start the second stanza, as Hoston swooshed a triple to make it a 48-27 game with 15:59 left. A bucket in the paint by Washington extended EOU’s lead to 26 (57-31), and although Corban used a mini-run to cut it to 21 (59-38), both sophomore guard Tate de Laveaga and junior wing Travis Meeker drilled back-to-back three’s to keep EOU rolling.
The Mountaineers shot over 53 percent for the remainder of the contest, and with 51 seconds on the clock, junior forward Stuart Bartoldus drilled a three on the right wing to give EOU its largest lead (85-52) of the game.
STAT OF THE GAME
20+ – EOU dished out 20 or more assists for the seventh time this season.
UP NEXT
EOU hits the road to Washington for a pair of games against Evergreen (Jan. 29) and Northwest (Jan. 30). Tipoff against Geoducks on Friday is set for 7:30 p.m.