By Easton Ralphs, USU Eastern Athletics:

The Utah State Eastern Eagles Men’s Basketball team started their season off this weekend with back to back games in Taylorsville, Utah. The first of those games played was against Jump Start Academy. In this game after a slow start the Eagles were able to jump out to a lead in the second half to secure the win 109-71

The Eagles got big contributions from several players in this game as there were 5 of them that ended in double figure scoring. Peyton Falslev led the way with a total of 23 points, followed by Kurt Wegscheider and Isaac Castagnetto both totaling 13 points. Isaac also tied for a team high 7 rebounds with teammate Gbenga Olubi. Event though the Eagles were able to score the ball well the real separation in the game came when the Eagles forced Jump start to a total of 23 turnovers. Coach Evans said, “It was nice to get the first one under the belt and to get a glimpse of what our team is about.”

After a successful Friday night the Eagles had to get right back to it Saturday afternoon as they took on the 24th ranked Plainsmen of Northeastern Junior College. In this game the Eagles struggled on the boards as Northeastern out rebounded  them 46-25. However as in the first game of the weekend it was the turnover battle that helped USUE secure the victory. They were able to force the plainsmen into 22 turnovers. After a back and forth first half USUE was able to surge ahead midway through the second half and never look back. The Eagles were able to get the victory by a score of 68-61. “it is always nice to win but there are definitely areas that we need to improve and we are going to always look to get better,” said Coach Bill Evans after the hard fought battle to end the weekend.

USUE will have another tough task coming ahead of them as their next game is this coming Tuesday on November 9, 2021 against the number 1 team in the country in Salt Lake Community College. That game will be played In Price, Utah and tips off at 7:00 pm.

*Photo by Jeff Barrett