Top 25 Battle, Turned Blow-Out Win for Eastern

OLYMPIA, Wash.- The Eastern Oregon University men's basketball picked the perfect night to have their best night, routing number 23 The Evergreen State College (18-6, 13-5 Cascade Collegiate Conference), 93-66.

The game was never in doubt for the Mountaineers (22-4, 15-3 CCC), leading by thirteen points at halftime and outscoring the Geoducks 45-31 in the second half as well.

Evergreen made only two of their 11 three-point attempts on only their first week in the nation's top 25. With only two national rankings remaining, both teams have only two games remaining on their schedules before the conference tournament.

The Geoducks' Nathan Menefee entered the game leading the CCC averaging 23.2 points per game, and EOU held him to just 14. The Eastern defense also held Evergreen State well below their 85 point per game average.

Eastern's Mark Carollo had a game-high 18 points, while Neil Fryer added 16 points. Nick Finley also had 13 points, and Josh Landsverk and Dan Blanchard each finished with 11 points for the Mountaineers.

Nick Moore paced the Geoducks with 15 points, and Julio Feliciano had 13 points for Evergreen State College. David Howard's 11 points wrapped up the double-digit scoring for TESC.

EOU shot an impressive 7-10 from behind the arc, and 57 percent from the field in the raucous Greenhouse with over 700 people in attendance.

On Tuesday, Feb. 19, Eastern will travel to Caldwell for the second battle for the I-84 Cup this season. In the first meeting this season on, Jan. 15 in La Grande, EOU edged The College of Idaho (9-9, 12-16 CCC) 63-62. The 'Yotes fell at Northwest University 94-80 Saturday night, and currently ride a two-game losing streak.

BOX SCORE