PORTLAND, Ore. – The Multnomah University men's basketball team played a close one against visiting Eastern Oregon on Saturday night, but the Lions couldn't find enough offense as they lose to the Mountaineers 86-73 on Jim Skagen Court.
The loss drops the Lions to 4-12 overall, 1-7 in the Cascade Collegiate Conference while the Mountaineers improve to 8-10 and 4-4 in the CCC.
How it Happened: Both teams battled back and forth at the start of the first half with neither team really able to gain an advantage. It wasn't until four minutes remaining in the opening period that Eastern finally started to take control for the first time. With the score at 34-28 in favor of EOU, the Mountaineers used a 14-5 run to gain a 15 points lead, their largest of the half, before ending the half with the score at 49-37.
EOU finished the night shooting 48 percent from the field, compared to MU's 38 percent, and hit 39 percent from the three-point line.
Down 59-38 with 15:33 remaining in the game, the Lions fought back to keep the game close with a 9-0 to bring the game within 11 points. Eastern continued to find a way to answer, keeping the lead for the remainder of the night.
With 1:35 left on the clock, two free throws brought the lead back to single digits with EOU winning 80-72. The Lions couldn't find a way to score in the final minute before losing 86-73 on the night.
By the Numbers: Senior guard
Blake Updike showed why he is one of the conference's best scorers, putting up 31 points to lead both teams. Going 7-of-16 from the field, Updike knocked down 17-of-19 free throws on the night. Following him was
Jordan Paris with 16 points and seven rebounds while
Thomas Simien finished with seven points and seven rebounds.
For the Mountaineers, four players landed in double figures in points while Trell Washington earned the only double-double off the night with a team high 18 points and 12 rebounds. Case Rada added 16 points along with nine rebounds while Kalvin Johanson and Travis Meeker had 12 and 10 points respectively.
Coming up Next: The Lions will travel again next weekend as they head south to take on Corban University on Friday and Northwest Christian on Saturday.
