EUGENE, Ore. – The Bushnell men's basketball team had been looking for a signature win all season and finally found it on Friday night as they knocked Eastern Oregon University out of first-place in the Cascade Collegiate Conference, claiming a 90-87 come-from-behind victory.
 
Assistant Coach Jordan Alexander said, "Our defensive focus coming into the game was to defend and guard the three-point line as hard as possible. We wanted to contest as many shows as we could. They still shot the three very well, but we adjusted late in the game and made big plays. We finished possessions with rebounds, allowing some great looks in transition."
 
Senior Cory Johnson and redshirt sophomore Kaleb Burnett combined for 55 points in the victory as the Beacons (12-12, 9-8 CCC) shot 56% from the field and turned the ball over just eight times.
 
Bushnell was behind by eight points at the intermission and trailed by as many as 12 early in the second half. The Beacons kept themselves alive, however, and found themselves behind 77-71 with seven minutes remaining. From there, the home team scored eight straight points, taking the lead on a three-pointer from Squeeky Johnson with 4:04 on the clock.
 
The Beacons never trailed again, and climbed ahead by as many as six, only to see EOU connect on a game-tying trey from Isaiah Jones, making it 84-84 with 49 seconds to play. Burnett drove the lane and scored on the following possession to give the lead back to Bushnell, and Cory Johnson went 4-for-4 at the free-throw line in the final 14 seconds to seal the Beacons first win of the season over a team receiving votes in the NAIA national coaches poll.
 
Cory Johnson ended with a double-double, scoring a season-high 32 points with ten rebounds. Burnett added 23 points and seven boards while Squeeky Johnson collected ten points.
 
Head Coach Eddie Alexander said, "I was very proud of Cory and Kaleb and the rest of the guys who came in and executed offensively tonight. Our emphasis was just putting the ball in the basket all week as we have been struggling doing that lately, and we executed well."
 
The Mounties (18-7, 13-4) had five players in double-figures, led by a 24-point effort from Keilan Torkornoo, one of three EOU players with three trey apiece. Eamon Monahan added 14 points, Jones finished with 13 and James Bodily scored 11 with Porter Abrams coming up with ten points and a team-high seven rebounds.
 
UP NEXT: The Beacons close out the home schedule on Saturday, playing host to The College of Idaho at 5:00 pm. The Yotes (17-8, 12-5) fell by ten points to Corban University on Saturday and are two games out of first-place with three games remaining, leaving themselves vulnerable to breaking a streak of five straight years as CCC champions.