LA GRANDE, Ore. – Despite being a deadly outside shooting squad, the Eastern Oregon University men’s basketball team had no choice but to exploit Multnomah on the inside.
The Mountaineers recorded a season-high 68 points in the paint as they posted a 106-74 victory over the Lions on Friday night at Quinn Coliseum.
KEY PERFORMANCES
Senior center Kalvin Johanson posted a career-high 26 points on 8-for-11 shooting, while senior guard Case Rada added 17 points and a trio of three’s. In just 15 minutes of play, senior center Christian Parrott tied a season-high with 16 points, while junior wing Travis Meeker and junior guard Kentrell Washington added 15 and 10 points, respectively.
Blake Update, the leading scorer in the CCC, led Multnomah (4-19, 1-14 CCC) with 33 points in the losing effort.
THE STORYLINE
With the affair knotted at 16 apiece midway through the first frame, sophomore guard Miles Loupe drilled a mid-ranger jumper to kickstart an 11-0 run over the next three minutes to help EOU pull away.
With just over five minutes remaining, sophomore guard Tate de Laveaga and Rada drilled back-to-back triples to extend the Mountaineers’ lead to 18 (36-18), and then Rada nailed another three on the right wing thanks to some unselfish perimeter passing to give EOU a 41-20 lead with 3:31 left.
The Mountaineers (14-12, 9-7 CCC) took a 52-21 advantage into the locker room thanks to a stifling 58.8 percent (20-for-34) shooting effort.
EOU scored 21 of the first 31 points of the second half to take a commanding 73-31 lead with 13:05 left after five-straight points from Johanson.
Later in the half, Parrott and Johanson combined for 16 points in a four-minute stretch to give EOU a 99-59 lead with 3:02 left, and the Navy and Gold stayed strong en route to claiming a 32-point triumph.
STATS OF THE GAME
68 – EOU registered a season-high 68 points in the paint to cruise to victory. Both Johanson and Parrott combined for 42 points on 16-for-23 shooting.
47 – The Mountaineers improved to 10-1 on the season when shooting 47 percent or higher.
UP NEXT
EOU hosts Warner Pacific tomorrow for Senior Night in La Grande at 7:30 p.m.