Eagles snap four-game losing streak
The College of Eastern Utah men’s basketball team snapped its longest losing streak of the season against Colorado Northwestern Community College last weekend in Price. The win against CNCC was preceded by road loses against the College of Southern Idaho, and North Idaho College.
This archived article was written by: Nathan Davis
The College of Eastern Utah men’s basketball team snapped its longest losing streak of the season against Colorado Northwestern Community College last weekend in Price. The win against CNCC was preceded by road loses against the College of Southern Idaho, and North Idaho College.
Two weekends ago the Eagles headed north to Twin Falls, Idaho where they faced conference rival CSI. The Eagles started the game hot, and started the game with two three-point shots to build an early lead. Halfway through the first half, CEU had built an 11-point lead 19-8, but with five minutes left in the half, CEU started to falter.
By halftime the Eagles lead was cut to four points, 35-31. In the second half the lead bounced back and forth for much of the period. With 1:23 left in the game, EU had a four-point lead, but CSI refused to surrender and came back with a jumper, and a pair of foul shots to send the game into overtime.
This was the second time this season that CEU and CSI have gone to overtime to decide the game. Isaiah Williams and Nick Thompson, gave the Eagles the lead in the extra period. But two ill-timed turnovers allowed CSI back into the game. In the end CEU wasn’t able to pull out the win, losing 83-77.
Head Coach Chris Craig said “I thought our guys played really hard, we didn’t do a good job of executing, but I was pleased with our guy’s effort.” Thompson led the Eagles in scoring with 20 points and eight rebounds.
CEU continued their road trip, heading north to take on the NIC Cardinals in Coeure ‘de Lane, Idaho. The Eagles started playing well and took a seven-point lead into the locker room at half time. They were unable to pull out a win.
The Eagles were once again plagued by poor execution. Coach Craig said that the team didn’t execute down the stretch, had bad turnovers and didn’t get it done at the end. The final score was 66-62.
This was the Eagles fourth straight loss, and dropped them to third in the Scenic West Athletic Conference behind Salt Lake Community College and NIC. Michael Glover led the Eagles in scoring with 13 points and nine rebounds.
Following the loss at NIC, CEU returned to Price and faced off against the CNCC Spartans. Coach Craig told his team before the game that they had “to get back winning, it starts today.” The Eagles came out strong against the Spartans and dominated from the tip off. The team looked loose and one fan commented that it was “fun to see the team not so serious.”
By halftime CEU had doubled the points CNCC scored and went into half-time leading 50-25. The Eagles dominated in every facet of the game, out rebounding CNCC 49-19.
The Eagles closed out the game hitting the century mark 107-67. CEU finished the game with five players in double figures, Glover led the way with 20 points, Jonathan Mills 18 points and Fernando Defavari, Joaquim Vander and Thompson all had 10 points.
Coach Craig said that “I really like where we’re at, any time you have adversity it helps your team grow and mature. You’re always going to go through a bad stretch in conference play, I’m glad we’ve got over that.”
The Eagles go back on the road this weekend. They will travel to SLCC on Friday, Jan. 29. Then they will take on rival Snow College in Ephraim on Saturday, Jan. 30. CEU will return to the Bunnell-Dmitrich Athletic Center on Friday, Feb. 5 when they will face CSI.
