Box Score The Evergreen State College battled on even terms with Cascade Collegiate Conference men's basketball leader Eastern Oregon for 40 grueling minutes on New Year's Eve in Costantino Recreation Center before the Mountaineers made a few more plays at the end to pull out a 98-92 victory.

Eastern Oregon (14-2 overall, 6-0 conference) got 25 points and 13 rebounds from Brian McGriff and 21 points from Blake O'Donnell, including a crucial rebound basket of his own free throw miss with 2:21 to play that gave the Mountaineers a 91-86 lead.

All five Evergreen starters finished in double figures, led by Shawn Spencer with 19 points. Jarrick Mitchell, who carried the Geoducks late with a trio of three-point shots, ended up with 18 points and nine assists. Also finishing in double figures for the Geoducks were Dalton Groenewold with 18 and both Taylor Drey and Ryan Quigley with 12.

There were a total of 12 ties and 17 lead changes in a game where neither team led by more than 10 points. That was the difference at the half, in fact, as Eastern put together a late first half run to take a 49-39 lead at the break.

Evergreen (5-8, 2-5) got right back into the game and in less than six minutes had taken a 59-57 lead, with Groenewold hitting a pair of threes to end the surge.

The game reached its 12th tie at 85-85 on a pair free throws by Eastern's Kentrell Washington, and moments later McGriff hit a layup to put hit team ahead for good with 3:18 to play.

The Mountaineers ended up sinking all six of their free throw attempts inside the final 1:06 to ice the victory.

Joining McGriff and O'Donnell in double figures for Eastern Oregon were Travis Meeker with 14 and both Washington and Matt Wong with 10 apiece. The Mountaineers shot 51 percent overall and 43 percent from three-point range, but they may well have won the game at the free throw line, going 30-for-39.

Evergreen, which turned the ball over just eight times, ended the game with 46 percent field goal accuracy and also exactly matched EOU's 12-for-28 from beyond the three-point arc, in addition to hitting 16 of its 24 free throw attempts. Quigley and Drey both had seven rebounds to lead the Geoducks in that category.