LA GRANDE, Ore. – The Eastern Oregon men's basketball team dropped its 2020 opener on Friday night, falling 109-99 to Northwest Christian at Quinn Coliseum in Cascade Collegiate Conference play.
The Beacons (8-6, 3-1 CCC) used a strong second half offensive outburst, in which they scored 60 points, to down the Mountaineers (7-7, 1-3 CCC). EOU led 62-57 just over four minutes into the second half, but NCU rallied to take the lead 68-66 with 13:52 to play and never trailed again. EOU the score close until the Beacons went on an eight-point run to take a commanding lead of 102-90 with 1:54 to play.
Senior Landon Jones had 28 points and 14 rebounds to lead the Mountaineers as he made 11-of-16 shots over 37 minutes of floor time. However, EOU had a tough time stopping the Beacons' Ernest Ugoagu who scored 33 points. NCU had four other players in double digit scoring including Stevie Schlabach with 18 and Logan Sand with 16 points.
The Mountaineers struggled from behind the arc, making 7-of-20 shots. The team was efficient from the floor overall at 47.4 percent, and had 20 made free throws on 28 attempts. EOU had a 56-40 advantage in points in the paint.
The Beacons were very efficient at 53 percent shooting while making 11 three pointers. Northwest Christian also went to the free throw line 35 times, making 28 for 80 percent shooting.
Senior Jarek Schetzle had 18 points and six rebounds, but played just 22 minutes due to foul trouble. Junior Jamal Heckard had 14 points and three steals, junior Max McCullough posted 13 points with five rebounds, sophomore Zane Wright added 10 points while junior Josh Brown had eight points and six assists.
The Mountaineers remain home on Saturday night, hosting Corban at 7:30 p.m. at Quinn Coliseum.
For more information on Eastern Oregon men's basketball, follow @EOUAthletics or visit eousports.com.
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Contact: Iain Dexter; 541-962-3946; idexter@eou.edu