LA GRANDE, Ore. – The Bushnell men's basketball team played 40 intense minutes of basketball, got the look they wanted on their final offensive possession, and played a near-perfect defensive possession to end the game, but the Eastern Oregon Mountaineers still escaped with a 76-74 victory at home on Friday night in Cascade Collegiate Conference action.
 
Trailing 74-72 in the final minute, Bushnell successfully stopped two Mountie possessions and collected the ball with the shot clock turned off. As he had done the entire second-half, junior Spencer Hoffman stepped up big, hitting a lay-up with 14 seconds remaining to tie the game. 
 
Tormented by the CCC's leading scorer, Philip Malatare, and the conference's best three-point shooter, Adam Orr, throughout the evening, Bushnell was able to keep the final shot opportunity out of both player's hands on the last possession. It was Justin Jeske who put up the attempt in the final second, which he missed, only to see Preston Chandler tip in the offensive board as time expired.
 
The final knockout punch was tough and the prize-fight to get there was brutal. Both teams held leads of as many as nine points in a game that saw huge momentum shifts as the foes traded leads seven times and were tied on nine different occasions for more than five minutes of game play.
 
Round one went to the Beacons as they used an 8-0 run early in the first half to take a seven point lead, eventually claiming a 30-21 advantage with 6:19 remaining in the period on a pair of Luke Smith free-throws.
 
In round two it was advantage EOU as the home team launched a 12-2 run, highlighted by a Malatare three-pointer to take back a 33-32 lead. The Beacons responded with seven straight points of their own and eventually claimed a 41-35 edge at half-time.
 
Trailing 47-39 early in the second half, it was Orr's turn to provide a spark, hitting three three-pointers as the Mounties scored 13 straight points to take back the lead. The run expanded to 19-2 as Eastern's lead grew to nine, 58-49 with just under 12 minutes remaining.
 
With their backs against the ropes, the Beacons showed plenty of resiliency as they quickly climbed back to within one point with nine minutes to play and eventually tied the game at 66-66 on a Hoffman three-pointer with 5:39 to play.
 
Malatare and Hoffman traded jabs and EOU found themselves ahead by four points before two free-throws from Stevie Schlabach brought the Beacons within 74-72 with 82 seconds remaining, setting up the final sequence.
 
The Beacons (11-14, 9-10 CCC) out-shot EOU in every facet of the game (51%-to-48% on field goals, 44%-to-39% on three-pointers and 88%-to-54% on free-throws) and out-rebounded the Mounties 32-30, but Eastern claimed a 25-13 advantage in second-chance points as Bushnell allowed 14 offensive rebounds. It was that final missed-rebound opportunity that allowed the Mounties to escape with the win.
 
The Beacons were led by Hoffman's game-high 19 points as he scored 15 in the second half and shot 8-for-11 from the field. He added ten rebounds for the double-double. Schlabach added 13 points, as did both Isaac Girley and Cory Johnson off the bench as the Bushnell reserves out-scored the Mountie bench, 30-16.
 
The Mounties (16-9, 13-6) were led by Orr's 16 points as he hit four three-pointers. Malatare finished with 15 while Ismael Valdez posted 11 points and a team-high seven rebounds.
 
With only two weekends remaining in the regular season, Friday's game had major implications in the standings for both teams. The win for Eastern, coupled with a loss by Corban, makes a four-way tie for second-place in the CCC as those teams are joined by Southern Oregon and Warner Pacific who were also victorious. Bushnell falls out of a three-way tie for sixth-place and into a two-team tie for seventh with LC State. Those teams maintain a two-game lead over ninth-place Multnomah, meaning the Beacons can still clinch a playoff berth with a win on Saturday.
 
Bushnell heads to Caldwell, Idaho on Saturday where they will take on the top-ranked team in the NAIA at 4:00 pm. The College of Idaho has already claimed the CCC regular-season championship, is undefeated in conference play and riding a 24-game winning streak.
 
"This was a tough loss," said head coach Eddie Alexander. "The guys did everything we asked of them tonight. It'll be a tough turnaround, but we will give everything we can against C of I tomorrow."