Eastern Oregon swept the Geoducks in both the men’s (90-79) and women’s (82-51) games Thursday night at the College Recreation Center, spoiling Evergreen’s Cascade Collegiate Conference home openers.
In their 15th season of collegiate basketball, the women are one win shy of 100 wins, while the men are one win away from No. 200.
In the women’s game, the Mountaineers (10-2 overall, 4-1 CCC), ranked No. 9 in the latest NAIA poll, proved to be too much for the Geoducks, who were looking to grab their second straight win after defeating Northwest Christian, 67-62, on Dec. 20.
Evergreen led six minutes into the first half, 11-10, but Eastern Oregon went on a 33-12 run in the final 13-plus minutes of the half to grab a 43-23 lead. Evergreen got as close as 17 in the second half, but Eastern inflated its lead to 30 several times – including a 68-38 advantage on a put-back by Nyesha Joseph.
Eastern forced Evergreen into 32 turnovers, which turned into 40 points for the Mountaineers. Geoducks coach Monica Heuer said her team was “frazzled for whatever reason.”
“It helps them when we turn the ball over,” Heuer said. “We acted like we didn’t practice. We’re a young team and when it goes good, it goes good, but when it goes bad, it goes bad.”
Eastern, led by Korrie Bourn’s 13 points and Kyle Miller’s 12, also got a significant boost from its bench, which produced 43 points.
Danielle Swain led the Geoducks (3-10, 1-3) with 19 points and eight rebounds.
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Eastern Oregon led from the start, but Evergreen cuts its deficit to single digits numerous times in the second half – including cutting it to three – but couldn’t pull out its first CCC victory.
“We’re closer today than we were yesterday,” Evergreen coach Arvin Mosley Jr., said. “I like our speed, but that is one team that is faster than us.”
Trailing 54-41, Evergreen (1-12, 0-4) got hot from behind the 3-point arc, notching three 3-pointers in a span of 2:17 to trim the lead to 56-53 following Travis Wagner’s 3 with 12:22 remaining in the game.
But the Mounties responded with a 10-0 run to rebuild the lead to 66-53 with 9:07 to play. Evergreen got no closer than eight points the rest of the way.
Mosley Jr. said he’s still tinkering with his lineup – he has used a different starting lineup almost every game. Marice Tolliver was one of five Geoducks to score in double figures with 20 points and seven rebounds. Mike Derosier had 13 points, and Travis Wagner and Patrick Lewis had 12 points apiece. Jamar Johnson and Cody Thurmond led EOU with 28 and 24 points, respectively.
Evergreen’s homestand continues today with a game against the College of Idaho. The women are set for 5:30 p.m., followed by the men at 7:30 p.m.
Meg Wochnick: 360-754-5473 mwochnick@theolympian.com
