By Cory McKendrick, USU Eastern Sports Information Contributor
A slow start for the Utah State University men’s basketball team proved to be the difference maker against the College of Southern Idaho. The Eagles couldn’t quite dig their way out of the 14-point halftime deficit and fell to CSI 76-60.
The conference tournament implications of this game were as follows: With last week’s loss to Snow College and this week’s loss to CSI, the Eagles now have cemented their spot as fourth in the Scenic West Athletic Conference regular season standings. A win would have given them the third spot. Salt Lake Community College is atop the standings, followed by Snow College and then CSI with the Eagles in fourth.
Turahn Thompson posted a double-double in the loss with 10 points and 10 rebounds. He was four assists shy of a triple-double with six. Christian Haffner had a team high 13 points for the Eagles. Unfortunately, it was a cold shooting night for the Eagles who shot just 37% from the field, 25% from three and 38% from the charity stripe. This was the second contest in a row at CSI’s gym that the team has had an uncharacteristic shooting night.
For Eagles fans, hopefully the third time will be the charm as they now prepare for their last regular season conference game before the conference tournament, which will be hosted in the CSI gym. The final home game of the season and sophomore night for Eastern will be Feb. 22 as they host the Bruins of SLCC. The game is scheduled to begin at 3 p.m. in the BDAC.