Men's Basketball 2/15/2020 12:10:00 AM Iain Dexter, EOU Sports Information Director Stifling Defense Leads EOU Over Eagles 73-63 LA GRANDE, Ore. – The Eastern Oregon men's basketball team earned an important home Cascade Conference victory on Friday night, defeating third-place Northwest 73-63 on Pink Night at Quinn Coliseum The Mountaineers (14-12, 8-9 CCC) continued their late season push, winning their third straight game. Ranking as a top-five scoring team in the NAIA entering the night, the Mounties used their defense instead on Friday to frustrate the Eagles (16-9, 11-5 CCC) and limit them to 41 percent shooting and just 3-for-22 on three point attempts. The Blue and Gold used an efficient offensive attack that used long possessions to keep the Eagles from getting in a rhythm. The defense finished with seven steals and five blocks with Northwest turning the ball over 14 times. Junior Brandon Porter had one of his best games of the year, scoring a team-high 17 points, adding four rebounds, three steals and two blocks in an all-around game. Senior Landon Jones nearly had a double-double with 14 points and nine boards, while junior Max McCullough finished with 10 points and five assists. Senior Jarek Schetzle grabbed 13 rebounds with nine points and junior Jamal Heckard had seven points and five assists. Northwest's Hussayn Ford was difficult to stop all night, scoring 22 points with 12 rebounds, but EOU was able to keep him from taking over the game. Christian Hakilimali added 20 points and nine rebounds, but no other Eagle scored more than six. HOW IT HAPPENED The Mountaineers played one of their most impressive halves of the year in the first 20 minutes, holding the Eagles to just 27 points with a 37.9 shooting percentage including just 2-for-12 on three pointers. EOU led 18-16 with 8:21 to play, but went on a nine-point run over the next three and a half minutes to make it 27-16. The Mounties led by as many as 14 in the first half, taking a 37-25 lead into the locker room. Porter paced the team with 12 points in the half while Jones nearly had a double-double of 10 points and seven boards. Northwest began a comeback in the second half and outscored EOU 38-36 overall, but were never quite able to pull within range. The Eagles got as close as five points on two occasions, but could not get any closer as their outside shooting was off all night with just three made triples. BY THE NUMBERS 0 – EOU played its cleanest ball game of the year, finishing with 0 turnovers in the second half and just six for the game. 80 – The Mounties closed out the game with free throws, shooting 80 percent for the game. 6 – With an 8-9 CCC record, the Mounties moved into a tie for sixth place with Warner Pacific and just one game behind fifth place NCU. NEXT UP The Mountaineer's play their final home regular season matchup on Saturday, hosting Evergreen State. Prior to the game, EOU will honor its three seniors in Jones, Schetzle and Brock Johnson. 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