By Loren Miller, USU Eastern Sports Information:

PRICE – Utah State Eastern men’s basketball went 1-2 on their annual road trip to Arizona last week.

After falling short to Arizona Western on Friday, the Eagles bounced back with a dramatic 78-76 win over the Chandler-Gilbert Coyotes on Saturday.

With 3.9 seconds left, USU Eastern sophomore guard Matija Novkovic hit a game-winning three to put the Eagles over the top.

“We fought hard and found a way to win that game despite having double-digit turnovers in the second half,” said USU Eastern Head Coach Vando Becheli.

Novkovic finished the game with 11 points, two rebounds, and two assists against the Coyotes.

Leading the Eagles in scoring was freshman guard Blaze Nield who finished with a career-high 33 points.

“He was really aggressive and had that killer instinct. Blaze has been working really hard with Coach Jones and he has gotten better in other ways not just three point shooting,” said Becheli.

On Sunday the Eagles lost to the Scottsdale Community College Artichokes 81-78 in overtime.

The Eagles struggled in the early goings of the game and were consistently trailing the Artichokes throughout much of the game.

“We started out flat and our defense was not good throughout the game,” said Becheli.

In the second half the Eagles got back into the game and grabbed the lead in the final minute of the game.

With 16 seconds left in the game, the Eagles would see their one point lead slip away after a technical foul was given to Becheli.

After the technical foul and made free throws by Scottsdale, the Eagles trailed by three going into the last possession of the regulation

Novkovic would come up big again for the Eagles and hit a three pointer with three seconds left in regulation.

In overtime the Artichokes would take care of business and give the Eagles their second straight loss.

The Eagles now have a 11-5 overall record after the first half of the season.

Coach Becheli said that he hopes his team can move on from their up and down first half of the season.

“Youth and inexperience has caused us to have some ups and downs. I hope that we can learn from our mistakes and move on in the second semester.

The Eagles will have the next few weeks off before continuing non-conference play in Twin Falls on December 28 against Indian Hills.

“This break will help them relax and give them new energy for when our conference season begins,” said Becheli.

USU Eastern will open their conference schedule on January 5 at home against Colorado Northwest at 5:30 p.m.