SALEM, Ore. – Eastern Oregon men's basketball needed every bit of its depth and poise Friday night, grinding out an 87-81 overtime win at Corban in a non-conference matchup between Cascade Collegiate Conference foes.
The result pushes the Mountaineers to 7-3 overall, while the Warriors drop to 5-5. Though it came against a CCC opponent, the contest will not count in the league standings.
For the second straight outing, Eastern's bench flipped the game, and this time it was James Bodily who lit the fuse. The junior guard came in and immediately caught fire, drilling five first-half threes and pouring in 17 points before the break. His personal shooting barrage turned a back-and-forth opening stretch into a Mountaineer avalanche, as Eastern closed the half on a tear to build a 46-34 lead. EOU shot a blistering 61.3 percent from the field and 8-of-15 from deep in the opening 20 minutes, with Bodily and Isaiah Jones keying an offense that looked unstoppable when it was in rhythm.
Corban answered out of the locker room with a surge of its own. While the Mounties were held scoreless for nearly the first five minutes of the second half, the Warriors pounded the paint behind Joe Gould and Anjay Cortez and lived at the foul line in a whistle-heavy stretch. Corban methodically erased the double-digit deficit and eventually grabbed control, outscoring Eastern 41-29 after the break and turning the game into a foul-filled, possession-by-possession grind.
The final minute of regulation was pure chaos. Eastern, which had led by as many as 16 in the first half, suddenly found itself trailing 75-71 after a Gould three with under a minute to go. Logan Orchard and Trent Rogers each stepped to the line for critical free throws, and Rogers calmly knocked down two with 12 seconds left to pull the Mounties within one at 75-74. After a defensive stop and a quick foul on the other end, EOU put the ball back in the hands of its closer. With three seconds remaining, Eamon Monahan split a pair at the stripe, hitting the second to knot the game at 75-75 and force overtime after a last-second Corban heave missed.
In the extra period, the Mountaineers steadied themselves and showed their toughness. After falling behind 79-77, Eastern clamped down defensively and closed the night on a 9-2 run. Monahan sliced to the rim for a go-ahead layup, then added three more points at the line to finish with five in the extra session. Rogers delivered the dagger with a clutch three off a Jones assist to put Eastern up 85-79 with 28 seconds left. Corban managed only one field goal in the final minute as the Mounties got stops, secured rebounds, and knocked down enough free throws to escape Salem with the win.
Monahan capped his night with 22 points, eight rebounds, and an assist, once again steering Eastern in the biggest moments and accounting for 18 of his 22 after halftime and in overtime. Bodily matched him with 22 points of his own on 8-of-15 shooting and 6-of-13 from deep, doing most of his damage in that explosive first-half stretch that broke the game open. Rogers added 12 points and hit two threes, including five points in overtime, while Jones turned in a balanced line with 12 points, three rebounds and a team-high five assists.
Keilan Torkornoo quietly anchored things in the frontcourt, posting eight points, five rebounds, two steals and a block while making 4-of-5 of his field-goal attempts including a key bucket in overtime. Cole Hammack contributed six points, seven rebounds and three assists, and Caleb Schroeder gave the Mountaineers strong minutes off the bench with four boards while helping stabilize the glass. In all, Eastern shot an even 50 percent from the floor (33-of-66), 39.3 percent from three (11-of-28), and got 42 points from its bench in a game where depth mattered.
Corban was led by Gould's 19 points and eight rebounds and Cortez's 17 points as the Warriors outscored Eastern 46-38 in the paint and clawed back behind aggressive drives and putbacks. But Eastern owned a narrow 38-35 rebounding edge, turned 13 Warrior turnovers into 13 points, and made the plays that mattered most in the extra five minutes to "survive and conquer" in a grueling December test.
Next up, Eastern Oregon turns its attention back to games that will affect the CCC race. The Mountaineers hit the road for their first conference road swing next weekend, opening at Northwest University (2-6, 0-2 CCC) on Friday, December 19, with tipoff set for 7:30 p.m. in Kirkland, Washington.