EUGENE, Ore.  – With what his coach considered to be "contagious energy" in the second half, redshirt freshman Kaleb Burnett put the Beacons on his back and helped to deliver an 81-73 victory over Eastern Oregon University in Cascade Collegiate Conference action Saturday night.
 
Bushnell had the lead in Saturday's game for 39 minutes and 45 seconds, save for a brief 2-1 advantage for Eastern Oregon early on. Despite that, it was hardly a dominant victory as the never led by more than ten, and fought off a strong EOU team for the entire night.
 
The Beacons (10-12, 6-10 CCC) finished the night shooting 44%, but it was on the defensive side of the ball where Bushnell shined, holding the Mounties to 36% shooting and a 27% clip from three-point range. Bushnell held down the fort in the second-half behind ten offensive rebounds that resulted in 12 second-chance points.
 
A large piece of that puzzle was Burnett who finished the night with 14 points and nine rebounds, including five on the offensive end. He had just one defensive rebound and four points at the intermission.
 
"This was a great team win tonight," said head coach Eddie Alexander. Kaleb's energy on the glass in the second half was contagious. We needed that from him. We also finally shot the ball well from the free-throw line again which had haunted us lately. I am proud of an all-out team win with energy physicality, and toughness."
 
Also scoring double-figures for the Beacons was Cory Johnson with 14 points and a game-high 13 rebounds, while Squeeky Johnson and Luke Smith added 11 points apiece.
 
EOU (14-8, 9-7) was led by Garrett Hawkes who scored a game-high 17 points. Brennen Newsom added 14 points while Porter Abrams came in off the bench to score seven points and lead the team with nine rebounds.   
 
The Beacons will be on the road for their next four games, starting with a date in Klamath Falls against No. 24 Oregon Tech on Friday at 7:30 pm.