Eagles Go 2-1 in Last Three Games
In their last three games, the Utah State University Eastern men’s basketball team has had quite the amount of success. Utah State University Eastern matched up against Colorado Northwestern Community College on Feb. 1, Salt Lake Community College on Feb. 7, and then Snow College on Feb. 10. All of these games were played at the Bunnell-Dmitrich Athletic Center.
The Eagles played against Colorado Northwestern Community College for the first time this season. Both teams came out firing in the first half, with each team putting up 30 points. USUE came ready to play in the second half though, as they scored 43 points in the second half to secure the victory. The final score was 73-60 in USUE’s favor. The leading scorer for the game was Martel Williams, putting up 28 points and securing nine rebounds. Dyson Lighthall also had a near double-double, where he contributed 10 points and nine rebounds. Ethan Copeland scored nine points and had five steals.
Just six days later, Eastern faced off against Salt Lake Community College for the second, and final time, during the regular season. After defeating SLCC at their home court, tensions were high for both teams. Salt Lake was looking for redemption for their last game they played against the Eagles, and USU Eastern was looking to sweep Salt Lake this season. Both teams brought everything they had this game and left it all out on the court. The Eagles and Bruins fought back and forth for the lead in this game and ended the first half with a score of 31-37 in Salt Lake Community College’s favor. Going into the second half, the energy in the atmosphere was almost tangible. Each team continued to fight for the lead, giving everything they had to try and secure the victory for themselves. In the end, despite Utah State Eastern’s best efforts, Salt Lake Community College came out on top. The final box score was 72-84. Williams, again, was the leading scorer for the game. He put up 25 points and grabbed four rebounds as well. Lighthall was the next leading scorer for the team, scoring 19 points and five rebounds. Copeland also chipped in 14 points and dished out three assists for the team.
Finally, to wrap up this three-game stretch, the Eastern Eagles played against the Snow College Badgers. Utah State Eastern did not let their last game dictate the outcome of this game, especially since they were looking to get some revenge this time. The Eagles were determined to not lose against Snow College again this season, and that was shown in the way they played. The Eagles came out firing in the first half, entering the second half with a 22-point lead. They did not let up though, as they would proceed to score an additional 42 points in the second half to secure the victory. The final score of the game was 90-58 in USUE’s favor. The leading scorer for the game was Trace Ross, as he put up 25 points in 19 minutes. Martel Williams was next, as he scored 24 points and secured seven rebounds for the team. Kendall Alexander snagged eight rebounds for the team, along with dishing out four assists.
Over the next two weeks, the Eagles will play against three different teams. First, on Feb. 15, the Eagles will travel to Community Christian to take on the Saints in Redlands, California. Next, on Feb. 17, Eastern will play College of Southern Nevada in Henderson, NV. On Feb. 22, College of Southern Idaho will travel to Price, Utah to play the Eagles at the Bunnell-Dmitrich Athletic Center at 7:00pm. Finally, on Feb. 24, North Idaho College will play USU Eastern at the Bunnell-Dmitrich Athletic Center at 3:00pm.
