MBB looking for SWAC win

This archived article was written by: Jordan Mellen

Utah State University Eastern men’s basketball is desperately trying to find the win column as they hit the road this weekend starting the SWAC rotation schedule over.
The first conference game took place before the break on Dec. 11 against nationally-ranked Salt Lake Community College at the Eagles home court. The final score was 70-59 in favor of the Bruins.
Nathaniel Wright led the Golden Eagles in points scored with 15, followed by Royale Ewing with nine. Marcelo Ruediguer had the team high of seven rebounds on the night. The Golden Eagles finished with a field-goal percentage of 36.2 (21-28), a three-point percentage of 33.3 (5-15), and a free-throw percentage of 80 (12-15).
On Dec. 13, the Golden Eagles played Snow College in Price. The contest ended with Snow College winning 112-104, however, the Eagles leading most of the game.
The Golden Eagles top scorer for the night was Karoui with 25 points plus he led the team with seven rebounds. USU Eastern ended the game with a field-goal percentage 50 (29-58), as well as a three-point percentage of 45 (9-20), and a free-throw percentage of 71.2 (37-52).
The No. 2 team in the nation, College of Southern Idaho, was the next team to come to Price to play the Eagles. This nail-biter took place Dec. 18, and resulted in CSI winning, in the last seconds, 85-84. Eastern’s top scorers were Karoui with 23 points, Moody with 16, and both Josh Van Weezep and Harris who each had 14.
As a team the Golden Eagles managed a field-goal percentage of 46.7 (28-60), a three-point percentage of 50 (13-26), and a free-throw percentage of 75 (15-20).
The streak of home games for the Golden Eagles continued as Northern Idaho College traveled to Price Dec. 20. This game was also a nail-biter and ended in a 73-70 victory for NIC. Harris was the top scorer for Utah State Eastern with 16 points. Wright tallied up 14 rebounds on the night and Ruediguer had 11. The Golden Eagles field-goal percentage was 38.7 (24-62). They had a three-point percentage of 35 (7-20), and a free-throw percentage of 65.2 (15-23).
On Jan. 5, the Golden Eagles returned from break and played a non-conference game against Western Wyoming Community College, losing 83-75. Ewing scored the team high of 18 points, and Van Weezep followed him with 16. The leading rebounder for the Golden Eagles was Wright with 12, followed by Ruediguer with eight rebounds. The team finished with a field-goal percentage of 35.4 (23-65), a three-point percentage of 35 (7-20), and a free-throw percentage of 81.5 (22-27).
Eastern’s men’s team broke the streak of home games when they traveled to Rangely, Colo., on Jan 10. This contest ended in favor of CNCC with the final score 67-64 with Karoui leading the team with 18 points. They finished the game with a field-goal percentage of 33.8 (23-68), as well as a three-point percentage of 20 (3-15), and a free-point percentage of 70 (21-30).
The Eagles are on the road the next two weekends. They return home where they meet CNCC at 5 p.m. on Jan. 31.