| Matt Thomas drives the basketball down the court during a home game earlier this year against Snow College. The Eagles recently returned home from a two game road trip. Unfortunately for the Eagles, the squad returned home without a win. |
As the season quickly nears an end, the College of Eastern Utah Golden Eagles men’s basketball team hopes to complete the year on a winning note.
The team participated in a two game road trip this past weekend as they traveled to St. George Friday night and Las Vegas Saturday evening.
The road trip kicked off on a down note as the Eagles were defeated by the Dixie Rebels.
Currently, the Rebels are the team to beat in the Scenic West Athletic Conference. The team stands on top of the conference standings with a 23-4 overall record for the year. They are also ranked 12th on the National Junior College Athletic Association standings.
Because Dixie is the team to beat in the conference, the Eagles entered Friday’s match up ready for action and determined to hand the Rebels a conference loss.
This did not work out however as the Eagles struggled from the field and fell to the Rebels, 57-45.
The Eagles were outscored in the first half, 37-23. The eastern Utah team shot only 31 percent from the field. The second half didn’t turn out to be much better for the Golden Eagles as they continued to struggle from the field by shooting only 32 percent during the ball game.
Leading scorer for the Eagles was Anthony Grant who finished the game with 13 points. Grant also pulled down five rebounds and blocked one shot.
The only other player who scored in double figures for the Eagles was Derrick Turner who completed the competition with 12 points. The first year CEU athlete also posted seven rebounds, blocked three shots and stole two balls from the Rebel’s players hands.
Following the disappointing loss, the Eagles traveled to Vegas to take on the Southern Nevada Coyotes.
The game was well contested as each team competed strong. By the end of the game, the Eagles found themselves at the losing end of the score board but by only seven points. The Coyotes had successfully handed the Eagles their second straight loss of the weekend, 98-91.
The Eagles improved their shooting average considerably. The team shot 49 percent from the field. The team also had five players score in double figures.
Leading in points was Grant who scored 28. Following in scoring was Mindaugas Katelynas with 16 points, Chris Langhorne with 15, Turner who scored 11 points and Corey Brown who finished the game with 10 points.
The Eagles current record stands at 5-7 against SWAC opponents and 16-10 overall. CEU will look to improve their record this weekend as the team travels to Rangley, Colo. to take on the Northwestern Colorado Community College Friday.
The Eagles will then return to the BDAC Saturday to host the Utah Valley State College Wolverines.