Jose Briseno – USU Eastern Assistant SID

Photo courtesy of Dallin Grant

The Utah State Eastern men’s basketball team faced the No. 3 College of Southern Idaho Golden Eagles for the final time in the regular season.

The Eagles opened the game with dominant defense and an efficient offense. After taking a 7-5 lead, CSI went on a 7-0 run to establish an early deficit for Utah State Eastern. The Eagles cut CSI’s lead to two points with under 9 minutes left in the first half. After that point, the Golden Eagles went on an 11-0 run, and Eastern quickly found themselves down, 36-28 at the half.

Isaac Castagnetto was the leading scorer for Eastern in the first half. He had seven points on an efficient 3-4 shooting.

The Eagles fought in the early parts of the second half and cut CSI’s lead to as few as three points. Just like the first half, CSI went on a 13-3 run as Eastern started to cut down their lead. Eastern continued to fight back, but at the end of the game, the Eagles fell 71-64.

Ike Palmer used an explosive second half to finish the game with a team-high 19 points. He went 5-7 from the field and 8-8 from the free-throw line. Isaac Castagnetto finished with 13 points in the game.

For the Eagles’ final regular-season game, the Eagles will go to Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, to take on the North Idaho College Cardinals. The game is scheduled to begin at 3:00 pm on Saturday, Feb. 28.