Yotes Knock Off Mountaineers in Wild Finish

LA GRANDE, Ore. - Demetrius Perkins matched a career-high 30 points to lead No. 5 ranked College of Idaho past upset-minded Eastern Oregon University, 86-83, in the final regular season meeting this year between the long-time rivals.

The Coyotes (22-4, 11-3 CCC) led for most of the first half, extending the lead to 15 points just before the intermission as Marko Kovacevic scored two of his 20 points on a jumper inside the paint to give the Yotes a 40-25 halftime advantage.

C of I would push the margin to 20 points with just over 15-minutes remaining in the contest on a Joey Nebeker 3-pointer.

The Mountaineers (12-12, 4-10) cut the deficit to single digits with 9:21 remaining as Christian Parrott collected an offensive rebound and put the duece in on the putback.

With 3:32 remaining, Marko Kovacevic canned two free-throws to extend the Yote lead back to 15 points.

Eastern Oregon would go on a 23-9 run in the final three minutes to pull within a single point of C of I with just three-seconds remaining. The Mountaineers fouled Perkins who knocked down a pair of free-throws. EOU was unable to tie the game in the final seconds as the Coyotes escpaed with a season-sweep of the Mountianeers.

"Marko and Demetrius were terrific tonight," said head coach Scott Garson.  "We dominated play for most of the game and those two were unstoppable.  Eastern is a very talented team as was evident in the final two minutes, and I am proud of the way our team hung on and got the victory.  We have a group of high character young men and they are winners in every sense of the word."

One other Coyote joined Perkins and Kovacevic with double-figure scoring as Nebeker canned 13-points on 5-of-9 shooting. 

Kovacevic recorded the only double-double of the contest, pulling down 11 boards to go with his 20 points and four assists. 

Sydney Donaldson and Joe Vaz filled in on the hustle stats as Donaldson recorded five steals and Vaz blocked five shots on the night.

EOU received double-digit scoring from four players, led by 19 points from Case Rada.

As a team, C of I hit one more shot from the field than they did from the charity stripe, sinking 26 free-throws on the night. 

The Coyotes will be back in action next weekend when they play host to Northwest Christian on Friday at 7:30 p.m.