| Rafael Moreira hits a deuce during Friday nights game. The Golden Eagles split this weekends contests. |
Wrapping up their final home games for the season, the Eagles traded wins with NIC. Friday night the Eagles went down to defeat 94-85. On Saturday, they came back and edged out NIC by one with a final of 97-96.
On Friday NIC came out strong and fast against the Eagles. CEU found themselves down by ten by the break. It was the slow first half that did them in. They were able to come out in the second and step up their intensity, but it was too little too late as they lost by nine.
Seven of the eight players NIC put on the floor on the night hit for double figures. CEU had five in double scoring led by Tyler Kepkay with 23. It was NIC’s dominance off the boards that really set the tone. CEU had a team total of 28 rebounds compared to NIC with 40. NIC ended up with 31 second chance shots on the night as they dominated the defensive boards.
The tone was much different on Saturday night as the Eagles were the ones that came out with fire. Wanting to post a win in front of their home town crowd, they scored early an often in the first half. Up by 16 at the break they thought they had the game in hand. But NIC wasn’t finished yet. They Eagle shooting went cold in the second period while NIC stepped it up and erased the deficit.
It took an overtime period for the Eagles to eek out a win, giving the crowd its money’s worth in their final home game of the season. Jeremy Latham put up the numbers for CEU posting 28 on the night, followed by Kepkay with 21. The team was much more active on the boards, pulling in 49 rebounds. Felix Casperi grabbed 18 rebounds to lead the way.
CEU finishes up their regular season this weekend against Southern Idaho on the road and then will take part in the SWAC tournament in March.