The injury riddled USU-Eastern Eagles were eliminated from Scenic West Athletic Conference championship contention after falling to the Snow College Badgers 86-63 Friday afternoon in Taylorsville.

Advancing to the semifinals after defeating Colorado Northwestern Community College, the Eagles were matched up with the conference outright champions in the second round. Down 39-31 at the end of the first half, the Eagles were unable to keep pace with Snow in the final 20 minutes.

Freshman Kristupas Totoris finished with a game-high 23 points, including five makes on five attempts from deep for the Eagles. Fellow freshman Milan Surlic’ also registered double-figures, scoring 11 points off of the bench. Roman McNight chipped in with eight, and Nico Schapochnik contributed six.

Four of the five Snow starters reached double-figures, led by Conference Player of the Year Zach Hunsaker’s 21 points. Blake Truman notched the game’s only double-double, ending with 20 points and 12 rebounds. AJ Jones contributed 14 points, and Nate Bruneel finished with 11.

Playing without leading scorer Quinn Peters and backup center Alex Morrell the Eagles were forced to add Nico Rojas, Andy Isokpehi and Surlic’, all plagued with noticeable ailments, into the lineup. Playing with just six healthy players, the lack of depth became a problem in the second half.

Sophomore captain Cam Bailey’s final outing in an Eagle uniform was cut short as he fouled out with 13 minutes to play in regulation. Moments later Isokpehi picked up his fifth foul, leaving just two players available on the bench.

Friday’s loss brings an end to a season filled with ups and downs for the Eagles. After starting conference play 1-7 the team rebounded to win six of their next seven games going into the final week of conference play.

Stay tuned to Castle Country Radio for a complete season recap of the 2016-2017 season in the coming days.