EOU Basketball
Women :: The jam packed standings of the Cascade Conference got a whole lot more intriguing, at some expense of the EOU ladies. The Mountaineers split last weekends series of home games, beating Warner Pacific 83-59 on Friday and then losing to Concordia 78-85 on Saturday. The Saturday loss broke a 33-game home win streak. There were a lot of positives on the weekend. Nicole Redd played like the conference MVP on both nights. Averaging 33 minutes per game over the weekend, she knocked in 32 points, with 6 assists and 6 steals. Brittney Newcomb shrugged off a short slump and got back to destroying inside and out with a two game total of 52 points, 12 of 12 on free throws, 8 rebounds, 6 assists, 3 blocks and 2 steals. Kelsey Hill had another stellar offensive performance on Friday with a double-double. It was a total whitewashing of Warner Pacific all the way around, as EOU took a 22-point lead to halftime and coasted the rest of the way. Saturday night, different story. Offensively, EOU worked magic, coming back from as many a 14 points down early in the second half. EOU held leads of as much as 6 late in the game, but the defense could not stop Concordia, particularly from outside. Perimeter defense has been a problem for EOU versus outside teams. Concordia hit three pointers all game long, and had little trouble finding open passes outside. The biggest blow for EOU came with a two point deficit with a minute and a half remaining when Nikki Osborne fouled out. From that point, EOU was finished. All is not lost and sometimes losing is not always a bad thing. It is certainly better to lose in the regular season than the postseason. EOU can see what to work on and prepare for a few particularly tough matchups to close out the regular season.
EOU (11-2) leads the conference by two games over Oregon Tech (9-4). Northwest (8-4) is in third place. Southern Oregon and College of Idaho are tied for fourth (8-5). Concordia (3-9) entered the weekend in last place, but with unexpected wins over College of Idaho and EOU, now sit in eighth place looking for the final seed into the conference tournament. EOU fell one spot to to #17 in the national poll. Oregon Tech, despite two wins also fell one spot to #21.
Men :: The back and forth season hit a high point this weekend with quality wins over Warner Pacific 72-66 and #21 Concordia 82-80. On Friday, Trever Phillips lead the way in part time action with 80% from the floor with 16 points, 7 rebounds, 4 blocks and a steal. Killian Wood had a double-double. On Saturday, EOU failed to be intimidated and took advantage of Concordia's persistent press to expose some breaks down court. The Mountaineers maintained an early lead, followed by several lead changes throughout a hard fought second half. A strong defensive stand over the last two minutes paved the way for a fall away fader by Tony Eackles with 5.5 seconds remaining. Eackles put up 19 points with a couple timely threes. Deonta Edwards busted loose with another 14 points and 3 steals. Kevin Attila put in twelve of his own. EOU shot 59% from the field to knock Concordia all the way down to fifth place.
EOU (5-8) has extended its eighth place standing and with it a very manageable shot at the conference tournament. College of Idaho (11-2) padded its first place lead over Northwest (8-4), Southern Oregon (8-5) and Northwest Christian (8-5). Concordia (7-5) had been in second place, but fell to fifth after two weekend losses. The national poll was released on Tuesday despite the NAIA offices being closed during some brutal midwestern snowstorms. College of Idaho moves up to #8 with a 20-5 overall record. Southern Oregon fell four spots to #18 and Northwest broke into the top 25 at #19.
Oregon Tech's Danny Miles, in his 43rd season as head coach, won his 1000th career game at Corban on Saturday!
*** With five games remaining in the regular season, the men and women travel to Caldwell on Friday to meet their fiercest rival, the College of Idaho Yotes. A couple other huge conference matchups this weekend will feature Northwest at Southern Oregon on Friday and Northwest at Oregon Tech on Saturday. And for the Mountaineer women, who have won five straight vs College of Idaho, all of which have been down to the wire, expect another close one. College of Idaho is 8-5 in conference. One loss was in overtime, the other four losses were by a combined total of eight points and have all come down to the final possession. The games will be live on the Yote website. ***
Vote for Monty!
Monty the Mountaineer has advanced to the final round of the Cascade Conference facebook mascot challenge vs Hootie the Hustlin' Owl of Oregon Tech. Vote for Monty by “liking” his picture on the Cascade Conference facebook page at this link: https://www.facebook.com/CascadeCollegiateConference/photos/a.727737307247205.1073741839.147342561953352/727737790580490/?type=3&theater
Track & Field Season rolled into it's second weekend at the Washington Invite in Seattle and Ed Jacoby Invite in Nampa.
In Seattle, Sophomore Damion Flores had another track burning weekend by breaking the EOU record in the mile with a time of 4:10.67. Flores also shattered the EOU record in the 5000 meter with a time of 14:36.00. Senior Isaac Updike broke the EOU record in the 3000 meter with a time of 8:28.19.
In Nampa, Senior Kadie Booth set the EOU record in the 200 meter with a time of 25.62. Freshman Carlondra McGee-Woolbright finished right behind Booth in the 200 with the second best mark in EOU history. I am not making this up and the program has been around for over 40 years! Sophomore Talitha Fagen was the Red Lion Athlete of the Week with her 3.5 meter pole vault to finish in sixth place (highest among NAIA vaulters).
The season continues with the Boise State Invitation this Saturday.
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