Josh Landsverk ended his weekend with 40 points on 19 for 23 shooting from the field.
LA GRANDE, Ore. -- The Eastern Oregon University men's basketball team defeated Portland Bible College in a late season non-conference game Saturday, 85-72.
Josh Landsverk led the Mountaineers (12-5) (5-2) for the second consecutive night with 20 points. The senior scored 20 points Friday night against The College of Idaho.
EOU won the first ever meeting with Portland Bible College behind 59 percent shooting from the field and 40 percent shooting behind the perimeter. The Mountaineers outrebounded the Wildcats 40-22 and forced 13 turnovers.
Jordan Gregg and Dan Stafford each added 15 points for Eastern. Thomas McCarthy became the second Mountaineer to record a double-double on this year's roster in their career. The junior had 11 points and 10 rebounds. Steve Sawyers reached double digits in scoring for the fifth time this season off of the bench with 10 points.
Portland Bible (11-8) was led by Stephen McCall's 18 points. Michael Cooper and Austin Hodges added 12 points each for the Wildcats.
Eastern Oregon jumped out to a 7-0 lead and had its largest lead of 16 points twice in the first half. After trailing 42-26 with four minutes remaining in the first half, PBC closed the opening period with an 11-3 run to trail at the half, 45-37.
Portland Bible got within four points just into the second half, 49-45, but could never come closer than two possessions the rest of the night. The Wildcats came within four points three times in the second half, the latest at the 8:25 mark with EOU ahead, 63-59.
Eastern responded with a 7-0 run that would be enough of a gap to hold off Portland Bible for the rest of the evening. However, the Wildcats stayed within single digits of the No. 21 team in NAIA Div. 2 for much of the second half.
The Mountaineers next game will be in La Grande, Friday, Jan. 15, against Northwest Christian University. The Beacons (6-13) (2-5) forced No. 9 Warner Pacific into overtime Saturday before falling, 81-78. WPC sits atop the conference standings by itself with EOU, Oregon Tech, and Evergreen State all one game behind.