The USU-Eastern mens basketball team wrapped up the regular season with back-to-back road losses against the Snow College Badgers and the College of Southern Idaho Golden Eagles Thursday and Saturday.
Snow College set a blistering pace in the first half by scoring 54 points and connecting on 60-percent of their shots from the field Thursday night. Unable to keep up with the offensive clinic, the Eagles entered the break down 54-31. Despite shooting 53-percent from the field in the second half, the Eagles were again outscored in the 106-74 final.
Cam Bailey and Quinn Peters led the way for the Eagles as both finished with 19 points a piece. Roman McNight and Kristupas Totoris both contributed eight, and Koel Cutler finished with seven. As a team the Eagles committed 17 turnovers and recorded only 10 assists.
Zach Hunsaker ended with a game-high 21 points, 12 of which came from beyond the arc, as the Badgers clinched the No. 1 seed in the upcoming Scenic West Athletic Conference tournament. Backcourt mate AJ Jones recorded the game’s only double-double with 18 points and 10 assists.
The Badgers dominated the Eagles on the boards throughout the game, finishing with 40 rebounds compared to just 23 for the Eagles. Second chance points also widely favored Snow College in the lopsided defeat.
Thursday’s loss solidified the Eagles as the No. 4 seed in the upcoming SWAC tournament. The team also suffered two more major injuries as Peters and Rojas left early with two separate injuries, forcing the pair to miss Saturday’s game against CSI.
Suiting up just seven players the Eagles closed out the regular season with an 84-69 loss to the Golden Eagles in the second meeting of the year between the two teams in Twin Falls, ID.
Despite holding a 38-32 lead at the end of the first half, the lack of depth proved to be the difference for the Eagles as they were outscored 52-31 in the final 20 minutes. Once again USU-Eastern struggled to take care of the basketball finishing with 25 turnovers for the contest.
Cutler led the depleted Eagles in scoring with a game-high 20 points off of a 7-17 shooting performance. Starting for the first time this season Totoris finished with 15 points, and Bailey donated 12.
Darius Alexander and Jake Hendricks poured in a team-high 13 points a piece for CSI in a balanced team effort. Eight players scored at least two points, while Deishaun Booker, Roche Grootfaam and Josiah Barsh scored nine.
With the regular season now complete the Eagles will turn their attention to the SWAC tournament, which begins Thursday at Salt Lake Community College. The No. 1, 2 and 3 seeds will receive byes in the opening round, leaving just USU-Eastern and Colorado Northwestern to battle Thursday for a spot in the semifinals Friday.
Tip-off for Thursday’s contest is scheduled to begin at 7:00 p.m.. Live coverage will begin on KOAL 107.3 FM, and 750 AM at 4:30 with the Landon’s Diesel Service Pre-game.