BOX SCORE
LA GRANDE, Ore. -- The No. 9 Eastern Oregon University men's basketball team beat rallied to a 73-66 win over No. 14 Northwest University Saturday.
The Mountaineers (10-1) (2-0) move closer to matching their best start in school history at 13-1 in the 2007-08 season. Eastern trailed by as many as 10 points in the second half before it made its comeback for the victory.
A Jordan Call three-pointer with 2:57 left in the first half gave Northwest a 39-29 lead. The Eagles led 40-33 at halftime. A pair of Stedman Richardson free throws gave NU a 47-37 lead with 16:31 remaining in regulation. EOU went on a 12-2 run over the five minutes and tied the score at 49.
The score went back and forth over the next three minutes until the Mountaineers opened a 56-56 score to a 67-58 lead with 3:19 left in the game after a Jason Mumm three-pointer.
Thomas McCarthy led Eastern Oregon with 18 points off of the bench. The senior was 6 for 10 from the field including 3 of 7 from behind the perimeter. Mumm added 12 points, and Travares Peterson scored 10 points and recorded a team-high nine rebounds. Cody Thurmond threw a team-high five assists.
Greg Peters scored a game-high 19 points to lead Northwest (7-2) (1-1). He was 8 of 11 from the field and grabbed a team-high seven rebounds. Call finished with 12 points, and Stedman Richardson added 10 points and five assists.
After shooting 36 percent from the field in the first half, EOU shot 48 percent in the second half. The Mountaineers finished 36 percent from the three-point range. Eastern outrebounded the Eagles, 43 to 29, and had 16 assists to Northwest’s 15. The top two unselfish teams in the CCC squared off in the game, as Northwest averaged a league-best 17.7 assists per game, and Eastern averaged 17.3. NU was 40 percent from the field, and 5 of 21 from behind the perimeter.
The Mountaineers are the lone team in the Cascade Collegiate Conference with only one loss overall. Eastern won its 27th consecutive conference regular season game at home. The Mountaineers are now 34-1 in their last 35 regular season games at home, and 57-4 in their 61 games at Quinn Coliseum. The last regular season league loss came to Northwest on Jan. 12, 2008, 78-75.
Northwest and EOU were tied in the preseason Cascade Conference coaches poll at the No. 2 position. Eastern holds a 20-13 all-time advantage over the Eagles.
EOU will travel to Ashland, Ore. to play Southern Oregon in its next game on Friday, Dec. 17. The Raiders (8-2) (2-0) eased past Warner Pacific Saturday in Portland, 77-46. SOU travels to William Jessup (Calif.) Dec. 11, before it plays Eastern Oregon. Northwest hosts Northwest Christian Dec. 10, in its next game.