USU Eastern Press Release
Utah State Eastern men’s basketball went 1-1 during the Eagle Invitational on Friday and Saturday. The Eagles picked up their first home win of the season on Friday with a 81-64 win over the Western Wyoming Mustangs.
Friday’s win was the second win of the season over the Mustangs as they beat them last weekend in Ephraim.
“It was a good team win. We fought hard and came out on top,” said USU Eastern guard Blaze Nield.
Nield and sophomore guard Matija Novkovic each put in 26 points on Friday night, including eight three pointers made combined. Novkovic also led the team with four steals and five rebounds.
“He shot the ball well for us and it really helped us space the floor and get out in transition which is our strength on offense,” said Nield.
The Eagles shot well from the free throw line on Friday, making 25 of 33 on 75.8% shooting. Nield made 13 of 14 from the line to lead the team.
“I think Blaze helped us this weekend with scoring points but he needs to improve in other areas like defense. Once we get better on defense, we will improve our offense because we will have more chances in transition to score easy points,” said USU Eastern head coach Vando Becheli.
On Saturday night, the Eagles lost to the Eastern Arizona Gila Monsters 77-75, their first loss of the season.
The Eagles made a big comeback attempt in the second half after trailing the Monsters by 16 with 6:31 left in the game.
They shot 11-14 at the free throw line down the stretch to get them back into the game and cut the lead to 77-75 with eight seconds left to play.
“We fought hard during the second half and we put ourselves in position to win the game with taking the last shot. I have to give a lot of credit to my players for being focused on defense and executing our offense in the second half,” said Becheli.
In the final seconds of the game, the Eagles had the ball but a three-point attempt by Ognjen Pantovic bounced off the rim at the buzzer, giving the Monsters the game.
Nield led the Eagles again in scoring with 20 points with four three pointers made on Saturday. Novkovic also scored in double-digits with 16 points. Sophomore Chase Berry had a solid performance for the Eagles as well, putting in 14 points and grabbing eight rebounds. Pantovic had a great game off the bench for USU Eastern on Saturday night by putting up a double-double of 11 points and 13 rebounds.
Despite the loss, both Becheli and Nield are confident in their team’s ability to get better moving forward.
“We are a young team and we are working hard to get better and improve the parts of the game that we are struggling right now,” said Becheli.
“All we can do is get back at it on Monday and improve on our weaknesses. Our coaches teach us the areas of our game that we need to improve on and now it is our job to listen to them and get the job done,” said Nield.
Up next for the Eagles is two games at home this upcoming weekend against the Rexburg United, a club team of students from BYU-Idaho. Friday’s game will begin at 7:30 p.m. and Saturday’s game will tipoff at 5 p.m.
Both games against the Rexburg United will be streamed on the Scenic West Digital Network.
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- Photos by Jeff Barrett
