USUE Press Release
Utah State Eastern men’s basketball lost to the College of Southern Idaho Golden Eagles 105-89 on Saturday afternoon in Twin Falls, Idaho.
CSI got their third win and second home win of the regular season against the Eagles.
This time around, it came down to the physical play inside according to USU Eastern head coach Vando Becheli.
“We played better but they CSI won because they did a great job scoring in the paint and second chance opportunities. They were more physical than us,” said Becheli.
The Eagles trailed by double-digits throughout most of the game but were able to on a few runs to cut the lead down to single-digits.
Sophomore guard Neema Namdar provided a spark off the bench with 19 points to help the try to get the Eagles back in the game.
“Neema played well coming off the bench. He changed the speed of the game and he had a direct impact on the energy. This helped the team a lot, mainly with three pointers and energy on defense,” said sophomore Rafael Monteiro.
Becheli said after the game that he thought his team played very hard despite the losing the game on Saturday.
“They played really hard and got to cut down the deficit to single digits. They spent a lot of energy to get out of the hole that we were in,” said Becheli.
Monteiro finished the game with a team-high 20 points and seven rebounds. Sophomore guard Kristupas Totoris scored 13 points on 75% shooting from the three-point territory.
The Eagles will now have a week of preparation and practice to get ready for a battle on Saturday against top ranked Salt Lake Community College.
“We have to put full focus on Salt Lake now because they are a very strong team. We need to work hard on defense and rebounds during the week to be ready for them at their place,” said Monteiro.
The Eagles will travel to Salt Lake on Saturday with tip off scheduled for 5 p.m. inside the Lifetime Activities Center on the SLCC Redwood Road Campus.
Fans who are unable to make the trip to Salt Lake can watch the game live on live.ksl.com.