LAGRANDE, Ore. – Guard Trent Roos hit three 3-pointers to lead Eastern Oregon University on an 11-0 run to start the second half and spark the Mounties to an 85-64 win over Lewis-Clark State in a non-league men’s basketball game on Saturday night.
Eastern Oregon, ranked No. 24 in the NAIA Division II poll, led 31-30 at halftime, but used the hot shooting touch by Roos to take control of the contest in the second half. Roos hit 9-of-11 shots from the field, including 7-of-8 from the 3-point line, to finish with a game-high 27 points.
Roos hit five 3-pointers and scored 19 points in the second half as EOU didn’t allow LCSC to get closer than eight after the big run to start the half. The Mounties also scored the final eight points of the game to win going away.
“They shot the ball well and really it was Roos,” LCSC coach Brandon Rinta said. “He got it going a bit in the first half and then came out big in the second half. We didn’t do a very good job of defending him.”
The victory improved the Mounties to 8-3 overall, while LCSC had its four-game win streak snapped and fell to 6-2 overall.
The first half of Saturday’s contest was a see-saw affair. LCSC had its first lead at 18-17 and led again at 22-20 before the Mounties grabbed the one-point margin at halftime.
Roos led the EOU onslaught from the outside. Although the Mounties only made six more field goals than LCSC, EOU made nine more 3-pointers. The Mounties were 14-of-23 from the 3-point line for 61 percent accuracy. Inside the arc, EOU was 14-of-27. Overall, the 28-of-60 effort gave it a 56 percent shooting touch.
“They shot it really well and we did not,” Rinta said. “That’s pretty much the story there.”
The Warriors made 22-of-62 attempts for 35 percent, including 5-of-18 from the 3-point line for 28 percent.
The Warriors did force EOU into 19 turnovers, but had 17 turnovers themselves.
“We struggled from the 3-point line and turned it over a little bit too much offensively,” Rinta said. “It’s tough to get our inside game going when we shoot like that from the outside.”
BJ Bolte led the Warriors with 16 points, seven rebounds and a steal, but finished 4-of-15 from the field. Donte Archie added 12 points, five assists and four rebounds. Danny Marshall added nine points and Spencer Drury had eight.
“I thought we competed in the first half,” Rinta said. “We played hard in the first half but weren’t able to put two halves together. We let down in our defensive effort in the second half.”
LCSC played the game without senior guard Jeray Key, one of the team’s better defenders. Key is nursing a hamstring injury. He played seven minutes in Thursday night’s win over Multnomah University, but Rinta said the hamstring didn’t feel right on Friday.
“I think they (the Mounties) were a good test for us on the road and I think we will be alright,” Rinta said. “We let one shooter get hot and that was the difference in the game.”
The Warriors are back in action next Friday and Saturday in the LCSC Tournament at the LCSC Activity Center. Lewis & Clark of Portland and Great Falls open play at 5:30 p.m. on Friday, while Qwest University and LCSC play at 7:30 p.m. In the pre-determined format, Qwest and Great Falls play at 5:30 p.m. on Saturday, followed by LCSC and Lewis & Clark at 7:30 p.m.
