Jacques Wilson scored eight points for the Mountaineers.
MOSCOW, Idaho -- The University of Idaho men's basketball team held off Eastern Oregon University Saturday night in exhibition action, 82-77.
The Mountaineers trailed by 18 points in the first half, and 19 twice early in the second half, before making an enormous rally on the NCAA Div. 1 opponent. Mac Hopson made all 12 of his free throw attempts and led Idaho with 16 points. The Vandals shot 23 of 26 from the charity stripe Saturday.
A pair of Hopson free throws at the 15:03 mark in the second half gave Idaho a 57-38 lead, the team's largest of the game, but EOU went 4-of-5 from the field and 4-of-4 from the free throw line over the ensuing 3:24, while Idaho turned it over on six straight possessions, and the Mountaineers cut the Idaho lead to six at 57-51 with 11:39 left to play.
Idaho responded with a quick 12-4 run to extend its lead back to eight, but EOU didn't quit, and again whittled a Vandal lead down to six, this time with 1:31 left on the clock and the score 75-69. The Mountaineers resorted to fouling and Idaho made seven of its final 10 attempts from the stripe to withstand the charge.
Dan Stafford finished with a game-high 24 points to lead Eastern Oregon. The senior made 10 of his 17 shots from the field. Jordan Gregg scored 10 points and had a team-high six rebounds. Josh Landsverk added 10 points off of the bench.
Marvin Jefferson scored 14 points for Idaho and added a game-high 11 rebounds. Kashif Watson and Kyle Barone had 11 and 10 points respectively.
Idaho outscored Eastern Oregon 23-7 from the free-throw line. The Vandals dominated the paint by out-rebounding EOU 35-21, and outscoring the Mountaineers 34-22 in points in the paint. Eastern countered by turning 17 Idaho turnovers into 23 points, compared to just 12 Idaho points off 10 Eastern Oregon turnovers.
The Mountaineers open their home Cascade Collegiate Conference schedule Friday against Southern Oregon.