WALLA WALLA, Wash. - Mountaineer Men's Basketball earned its third win of the season Friday night with a nice road win at Whitman College, 69-57. With the victory, Eastern Oregon improves to 3-1 on the year.
How it Happened
• Eastern shot 46.4% from the field in the win and held the Blues (0-1) to 34.4% overall. EOU shot just 2-14 from three-point range but was 15-20 from the free throw line.
• Playing a big role in the win for the Mountaineers was a 29-point performance from
Phillip Malatare in 32 minutes of play. He had help with
Xavier Lovelace scoring 14 in the win.
• The Blues did make 11 triples in the game, but a 48-16 difference in points in the paints helped the Mountaineers walk away on top.
• The first half was a close one as Whitman went into the halftime break with just a one-point lead 36-35 despite EOU having the edge in shooting percentage at 50.0%-41.9%.
• Early on, the Mountaineers jumped out to a 9-3 lead with Malatare scoring six of the team's first nine points. In the first five minutes, EOU led by eight, 16-8, on a three-pointer by Lovelace.
• The Blues chipped away at the lead and managed to get within four, 18-14, before a quick 4-0 surge by Eastern made it a 22-14 game with 9:53 to play in the half.
• Whitman then pieced together a 14-2 run that made things interesting late in the frame. The surge gave the Blues a 28-24 lead before back-to-back made buckets from Malatare put EOU up 30-28.
• The two squads traded points and it seemed Whitman was going to hold a 36-33 lead at the break. Quick work from EOU however allowed Malatare to nail a shot with four seconds left to make it a one-point game.
• In the second half, Eastern retook the lead in the first 20 seconds on a steal and fastbreak layup from Malatare that made it a 37-36 game. From that point on, EOU never let go of the lead.
• Malatare's layup actually sparked an 8-0 run by the Mountaineers to push their lead to seven, 43-36. Lovelace scored three of the team's eight points to find his rhythm in the second half.
• A three pointer by the Blues with 15:59 to play in the half got them within four, 43-39, but that was the closest they got the rest of the night before EOU completely took control.
• The Mountaineers scored six straight points to go up by 10, 49-39, as a dunk by
Preston Chandler capped the run.
• Eastern maintained its 2-3 possession lead the rest of the night and they managed to go ahead by 10 points again, this time at 57-47, thanks to another dunk this time by Lovelace.
• The Mountaineers largest lead of the night came in the final two minutes of play when
Ismael Valdez nailed a pair of free throws to make it a 15-point game, 67-52.
• Eastern ultimately cruised to the 12-point win as the team outscored Whitman 34-21 in the second half for the road victory.
Mountaineers Stat Leaders
•
Phillip Malatare scored a game-high 29 points on 78.6% shooting (11-14) and was a perfect 6-6 at the free throw line. He also grabbed six boards, tallied two assists, and had two steals.
•
Xavier Lovelace scored 14 points on 6-9 made shots and grabbed a team-high seven rebounds. He also had a game best three steals.
•
Ismael Valdez chipped in nine points in the win and had four rebounds.
•
Manny N'tula led the defense in blocked shots with two.
For the Blues
• Nikola Trifunovic led the offense with 19 points. He shot 7-13 overall and was 5-9 from three-point range.
• Xzavier Lino added 18 points in the loss and had a game-high nine rebounds. He also tied the game-high in steals with three.
• Walter Lum added nine points on 3-9 shooting and was 2-2 at the charity stripe.
By the Numbers
12 - The Mountaineers 12-point win on Friday night is their largest of the season.
29 -
Phillip Malatare's 29 points are a single-game career high as a member of the Mountaineers.
2 - EOU has now won each of its last two road games against Whitman.
4 - The Mountaineers four blocked shots is the most in a game this season.
10 - EOU's 10 steals are also the most in a game this season.
Up Next
• The Mountaineers will be back in action this Tuesday, Nov. 9 when they travel to Pocatello, Idaho to face the Bengals of Idaho State University in their second exhibition of the year. Tip-off against Idaho State is set for 6 p.m. PT.
FOLLOW EOU ATHLETICS
