Josh Cottle and the Mountaineers fell to Indiana Wesleyan in the second round Friday.
Eastern Falls to Indiana Wesleyan, 70-57
Boxscore
POINT LOOKOUT, Mo. -- Third-seeded Indiana Wesleyan University became the eighth team to come from a halftime deficit to a win in the 2010 NAIA Division II Men’s Basketball National Championships. The Wildcats defeated Eastern Oregon University, 70-57, to advance to the elite eight for the third time in school history. The 2010 event is being played at the Keeter Gymnasium on the campus of College of the Ozarks (Mo.).
The Mountaineers (23-9) led 25-23 at halftime. IWU rallied taking the lead back early in the second half and stretched the margin to double digits behind a pair of key three-pointers from Ryan Hetrick. Eastern would come as close as five points in the final 10 minutes, but could not stop Indiana Wesleyan’s 47 second half points.
The Wildcats were led by Zach Coverstone’s 19 points on 8 for 13 shooting from the field. Will Hubertz and Spencer Harris each scored 13 points and Derrick Troyer added 10 points.
Indiana Wesleyan shot 68 percent from the field after shooting 30 percent in first half. The Wildcats proved their first in the NAIA Division II three-point field goal percentage defense holding EOU to 3 for 15 shooting for the game (20 percent). Eastern outrebounded IWU, 36-34, but committed 21 turnovers to Indiana Wesleyan’s 14. The Wildcats converted those turnovers into a 16-2 points off of turnovers advantage.
Senior Jordan Gregg finished his career at EOU with a game-high 22 points. The Lewiston, Idaho native scored in double figures for the 46th time in his two years at Eastern. Gregg added a game-high 14 rebounds.
Steven Sawyers chipped in 15 points for the Mountaineers.
Eastern drops to 21-4 when leading at halftime. The Wildcats (30-5) match their best record in school history set in 2006-07. Indiana Wesleyan is now 3-0 in the second round of the tournament all-time, with all three victories coming against Cascade Collegiate Conference members. The Wildcats advance to play the winner of Hastings and Oklahoma Wesleyan Saturday at 8 p.m.