By Cory McKendrick, USU Eastern Sports Information Contributor
The Utah State University Eastern men’s basketball team battled at the Bunnell-Dmitrich Athletic Center on Tuesday against Western Wyoming Community College. The game was won by the Mustangs in overtime, 81-71.
The Mustangs shot 44% from the field for the contest, including the five-minute overtime period. Western Wyoming capitalized on Eagle miscues, scoring 22 points off of turnovers. The Mustangs had four players in double figures in the scoring column. Manel Ayollead led all scorers in the game with 25 points and 12 rebounds to secure a double-double. Dayne Prim also had a double-double with 19 points and 10 rebounds.
The Eagles also shot 44% from the field. USU Eastern dominated the paint, outscoring Western Wyoming 36 to 14 in points in the paint. Post players Gabriel Oliveira and Vojtech Ruzek led the way in scoring for the Eagles with 16 and 12 points to go along with seven and eight rebounds, respectively.
USU Eastern led by eight with 1:19 to play before a few Eagle miscues and made field goals by the Mustangs dissolved the lead to two with 16 seconds remaining. An Eagle foul, with two seconds remaining, gave Western Wyoming the chance to tie the game and send it to overtime. The Eagles were cold throughout the overtime period. USU Eastern did not connect on a field goal.
The team will be back in action at the Treasure Valley invitational December 5-7 in Ontario, Oregon. On Thursday, they will play Idaho Select at 5:30 p.m. and then take on home team, Treasure Valley Community College, on Friday at 7:30 p.m. On Saturday, they will complete their road trip, taking on Next Level Basketball at 2 p.m.
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- Photos by Jeff Barrett
