By Tilar Clark, USU Eastern Sports Information Contributor
Basketball has officially begun with a season-opening tournament hosted at Laramie County Community College. It was a hard-fought weekend for the USU Eastern Eagles, who put up some impressive numbers over the weekend.
On Friday, the Eagles’ first official game was against P2P Elite. Both teams put on a show on the offensive end, with the final score being 114-104 with P2P pulling away at the end. The Eagles had five players in double figures with Christian Haffner scoring a game-high 29 points. Haffner had a lights-out night, shooting 50 percent from the field, including a stellar 7-14 from beyond the arc. Gabriel Olivrira came off the bench for the Eagles ready to light up the scoreboard, chipping in 17 points and a game-high six rebounds. Overall, the Eagles gave a valiant performance and ended the game shooting 58 percent from the field and 57 percent from the three-point line.
Saturday came to a close with a nail biter ending against the host team Laramie County Community College. The Eagles battled as they held the lead throughout the first half. The Eagles again had an impressive offensive performance with five more players in double figures. Vojtech Ruzek led the eagles with a meaty double-double, putting up 19 points and 10 rebounds. Gabriel Olivrira coming off the bench again to spark the Eagles with one rebound short of a double-double with 15 points and nine rebounds.
With exciting play that lights up the score board on the horizon for the Eagles, they will be home this weekend as they host the Eagle Invite. The Eagles will be playing Impact Academy on Friday at 7:30 p.m. and Rexburg United on Saturday at 6 p.m. in the Bunnell-Dmitrich Athletic Center.