EUGENE, Ore. – The Bushnell University men’s basketball team broke a ten-year old school record for three-point efficiency on Friday night, taking a 97-93 victory over Eastern Oregon University in Cascade Collegiate Conference action.
No player took more than eight shots for the Beacons, who hit on 66% of their attempts. From three-point range, the team shot 78.6%, breaking the school-record as they hit 11-for-14 from beyond the arch. Bushnell owned a 33-26 rebound margin, and survived a night in which the Mounties took 27 more shot attempts and held a 14-4 advantage in turnovers.
Head Coach Eddie Alexander said, “I was really proud of how we shared the ball tonight. Nobody taking double-digit shots shows how well we moved the ball. We are still working on taking care of the ball as shown by our ten turnovers in the first half, but we did a much better job in the second to get the team win.”
Six players were in double-figures for the Beacons, including 18 points off the bench from Logan Sand. Sand was 7-for-8 from the field while Dillon Young came off the bench to go 4-for-5 with 14 points. The Beacon reserves out-scored their EOU counterparts, 35-20 in the game.
Kaden Sand also scored 18 and was 8-for-10 shooting at the free-throw line, lead a team effort that saw the Beacons shoot 20-for-24 in the second half to hold off the Mounties. Ernest Ugoagu added 14 points while Nico Wolff scored 12 points with four blocks. Ugoagu’s effort helped him to become the seventh NAIA-era Beacon to hit the 1000-point plateau for his career. Ugoagu, Wolff, and Stevie Schlabach were all knotted for the game-high in rebounding with seven apiece.
Senior Max McCullough was the story of the night for the Mountaineers. Scoring just 12 points in the first half, McCullough finished with 43 including 18 in the final seven minutes as EOU did everything they could to mount a comeback. McCullough moved over the 1900-point mark for her career in the game as well. Zane Wright followed with 13 points while Preston Chandler scored ten.
The Beacons are set to host Eastern Oregon again on Saturday, tipping off at 3:00 pm.