Basketball teams find bumpy road in conference play

This archived article was written by: Micah Iverson

Much has gone on in the Scenic West Athletic Conference since the last edition of The Eagle. The Golden Eagle basketball teams from the College of Eastern Utah have played tough games and have fought to gain wins in their respective divisions.
The men’s basketball team had one of their biggest wins in recent history on opening night in the BDAC on December 2, as they upset the then, number two team in the nation, the Dixie State Rebels.
Assistant coach Brock Erickson said: “We really didn’t look at it that we were going to upset the number two team in the nation, but that we needed to pick up our first league win.”
The game went down to the wire with Eldridge Henderson sinking late free throws to ice the incredible upset, 65-63. From then until now, the Eagles have struggled with loses to Snow College, Salt Lake Community College and CSI. Against Snow in Ephraim, the Eagles played well and were ahead at one point in the game but late turnovers led them to the loss 84-74. They then came home to the BDAC and fell to the Bruins of SLCC 63-78. Stellar play from Henderson has him 3rd in the SWAC in scoring at 18.3 PPG while leading the category of 3-point FG, percentage at 67 percent. The Eagles hoped to come fresh out of the break and tested their skills against CSI in Twin Falls Thursday. CEU dropped their games against CSI 104-92, a team that leads the SWAC in almost every statistical category, and ranked fourth in nation. CEU men upped their record to 2-3 by beating North Idaho Saturday night 84-80.
The lady Eagles have battled the early season with suspensions, injuries, and illnesses heading the trials that have plagued them. They have lost five straight league games to start the season the first to Dixie 67-80, the second to Snow 48-70, and the third to SLCC 58-76. The lady Eagles were in action over the Christmas holiday at the Dixie State/ Las Vegas tournament in Las Vegas, NV. The lady Eagles came out strong against Brookdale Community College, a team from New Jersey, and came away with the victory 64-56.
Jana Glover led the lady Eagles with 16 points, with Whitney Fardig pitching in 9 of her own. The next day they faced the number three team in nation, in Seward Community College. The lady Eagles came out and matched up well and played “Without fear,” says coach David Paur, but fell 50-62. Janeen Nelson led the lady Eagles with 13 points with Glover putting in 11.
With the loss, the lady Eagles had the opportunity to take third place with a victory over Dixie State, trying to avenge a loss earlier in the season. The lady Eagles again fell to the lady Rebels 55-77. In the loss Veva Whitear led the lady Eagles with 13 points with Glover and Kaylynn Fager both scoring 10.
With the season starting anew after the holiday break, the lady Eagles hoped to play well against the second-ranked lady Eagles from the College of Southern Idaho in Twin Falls and North Idaho this past weekend. However they dropped both games: 82-47 against CSI and 87-48 against NI, making their conference record 0-5.