KIRKLAND, Wash. – The EOU men’s basketball team shot 51.4 percent (19-37) in the first period Friday night and his Mountaineer debut, freshman Jordan May dropped an astonishing 32 points en route to the 97-82 victory over Fraser Valley at the NU Pavilion to open the 2017 campaign.
With the victory tonight, Carlito Labarda Jr. also notched his first career collegiate win as a head coach.
“Overall, we shot the ball well from the field, 3-point distance and also the free throw line,” said Labarda. Defensively we are still not there and it’s going to take some time but they understand the commitment it takes to be great defensively.”
In the process, May led a quartet of Mounties in double figure scoring. Along with his 32 points, sophomore guard Max McCullough added 19 points and three assists, senior forward Austin Winegar chipped in 13 points shooting 3-3 from distance and senior guard Blake O’Donnell rounded out the scoring with 12 points.
“May shot the defensive gaps early and got a couple of steals that got him going which increased his confidence,” added Labarda. “We are all just excited to get this first win and credit goes to the guys for their willingness to play for each other.”
In just under five minutes of action, EOU raced out to a 20-9 lead. Fraser kept chipping away and crawled back within two (24-22) at the 11-minute mark after a Vick Toor bucket.
From this point on, the Blue and Gold went on a torrid run spearheaded by a combined 14 points from May and McCullough, while Winegar added seven of his own. EOU capped off the first stanza with a 51.4- percent clip (19-37) and shot 42.9 percent (6-14) from beyond the arc to lead 54-38 at the intermission.
In the second half, McCullough gave the Mountaineers their biggest lead of the game (22) after hitting consecutive 3-pointers with 16:33 on the clock. Despite the huge deficit, UFV battled and narrowed the score to as close as seven points (81-74) on back-to-back free throws from Toor with 7:33 ticks showing.
In the closing stretch, EOU put the game away going on an aforementioned 16-8 run led by May who recorded 10 of his 15 second-half points in the closing six minutes.
On the night, the Blue and Gold went 35-67 (53.3 percent) from the field, 93.3 percent (14-15) at the charity stripe and converted on a 54.2-percent clip (13-24) from beyond the arc.
Sagar Dulay led a trio of Cascades knocking down 20 points. Sukhman Sandhu came off the bench and added 13 points while Toor finished with 10 points.
UP NEXT
EOU is back on the hardwood tomorrow to face Trinity Western at 5 p.m.
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