McCullough Drops 35 to Give EOU 1st CCC Win 93-85 Over NCU 12/16/2017 1:35:45 AM LA GRANDE, Ore. – The Eastern Oregon men’s basketball team won its first Cascade Collegiate Conference game 93-85 over Northwest Christian, led by 35 points by sophomore guard Max McCullough at Quinn Coliseum on Friday night. McCullough was electric throughout the night both with drives to the net and long three pointers as the sophomore went 9-for-18 from the field and 4-for-7 from behind the arc while playing all 40 minutes. The Post Falls, Idaho, native also helped put away the game late as he went 13-for-14 from the free-throw line. 11 of his made free throws came in the second half with seven of them in the final three minutes of the game. First year head coach Carlito Labarda Jr. earned his first CCC victory of his career in the team’s conference home opener as the Mountaineers advanced to 9-2 overall and 1-2 in conference action. In a fast-paced, back-and-forth contest that featured nine tied scores and seven lead changes, both teams traded runs throughout each half. After falling behind 13-5 in the first quarter, the Mountaineers went on a run of 10 points to claim a 15-13 advantage. Trailing at halftime by one point, the Beacons (4-5, 0-2 CCC) came out on fire with 11 of 13 points to open the second half and take a 56-47 lead. Northwest Christian later went up by as many as 11 points with 13:59 to play. From that point on, Eastern Oregon chipped away at the deficit led by McCullough. EOU cut it down to three points on a three-pointer by freshman Jordan May with 6:28 to play and then took their first lead since the start of the half 73-72 with 4:39 to go. From that point on, the Mountaineers never trailed again as they took advantage of free-throw opportunities to close out the Beacons. May finished the game with 20 points and six boards to combo well with McCullough while senior guard Blake O’Donnell had 14 points and shot 6-for-11 from the floor. Senior guard Cole Ashby had seven points and had an important steal late in the game and a quick basket to keep EOU in front. Junior forward Peter Eke came off the bench and provided energy with four points and eight rebounds, five of which were offensive. Eke led a hungry group on the offensive glass as EOU finished with 16 offensive rebounds to the Beacons’ six. The extra opportunities led to 16-second chance points. The Mounties also capitalized on 15 NCU turnovers for 19 points. The Beacons spread the ball around well despite leading scorer Michael Loomis limited by fouls before eventually fouling out of the game. Jordan Alexander, Kenny Blackwell and Austin Tyner each put up 14 points while Davonte Cleveland had 12. Loomis left the game with nine points and six rebounds, while Canyon Dwyre added nine points and five boards. For the game, Northwest Christian shot an impressive 58.2 percent from the field while holding EOU to 44.1 percent. However, free throws and turnovers proved to be the difference in the victory for the Mountaineers. The Mountaineers next welcome Corban to Quinn Coliseum on Saturday night at 7:30 p.m. For more information on Eastern Oregon men’s basketball, follow @EOUAthletics or visit eousports.com. FOLLOW EOU ATHLETICS Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | YouTube Contact: Iain Dexter; 541-962-3946; idexter@eou.edu