LA Grande, Ore. – The 12th-ranked Mountaineers remained undefeated at home in conference play in a come from behind victory, defeating Evergreen, 88-80.
Leading the way for EOU was senior guard Kentrell Washington who chalked up 23 points, eight boards, and six assists while going 9-for-9 from the charity stripe. Freshman guard Max McCullough tallied 16 points and six assists in 27 minutes of play. Going 5-for-9 from field goal range, junior wing Austin Winegar scored 12 points while nabbing three boards. Rounding out the Mounties in double figures was junior wing Austin Strock who tallied 11 points, four rebounds and three assists.
Starting in the first, the Blue and Gold (17-5, 10-3 CCC), immediately got things going, hitting back-to-back treys from McCullough and Winegar (6-0). However, the Geoducks responded with an 11-0 run to take the lead (6-11).
Strock rained in a three and Winegar launched a deep two to tie the game at 11. The Mountaineers however quickly fell into foul trouble, adding up seven fouls in the first eight minutes.
With five minutes before the break Evergreen (5-15, 2-12 CCC) had one of its largest leads of the half, 25-33 while going on an 8-0 run. A McCullough three cut the lead to only five (28-33) with four minutes to play until the half. The McCullough three sparked a 9-0 run for EOU as they retook the lead, 34-33.
With less than a minute to play, Strock came up huge for EOU, blocking a Geoduck dunk. Evergreen was able to drill a last-second three to beat the halftime buzzer, but were still down one (41-40).
Into the second, both the Mounties and the Geoducks continued their back and forth battle, but a three from Washington gave EOU a six point lead, 50-44. Strock followed Washington with a three-ball of his own, expanding the lead to nine.
Washington connected on an old-fashion three-point play with 11 minutes remaining to give EOU a 66-58 lead. As Evergreen went on a 4-0 run, Post Falls, Idaho native McCullough connected with a huge three to shut the door on the Geoduck run (69-62).
Evergreen refused to go away and set-off on a 7-0 run, tying the game at 69 with six minutes until the end of the game. Senior wing Travis Meeker then made a key pair of free throws, breaking the tie, 71-69.
The Geoducks stole the lead for the first time in the second at 3:49, 73-71 with a 4-0 run before Meeker hit a three and then a few seconds later a pair of free throws (76-73). EOU then went on a 5-0 run with less than two minutes to play before Evergreen could retaliate with a layup (81-75).
With 32.4 seconds remaining, the Geoducks had drawn the EOU lead to only three, 83-80. The Mountaineers responded with a 5-0 run to end the game, securing their ninth straight home win.
BY THE NUMBERS
84 – Total rebounds between EOU and Evergreen.
40 – Percent from behind the arc were the Mountaineers.
315 – Points in the 2016/2017 campaign for Washington.
UP NEXT
EOU closes the weekend with Northwest tomorrow night. Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m.