ESPANOLA, New Mexico. - Your Eagle Men’s Basketball team was on a three game road trip, playing in Walla Walla, Washington over the weekend. They played on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. They head home winning one of three, but winning the game they needed too. The Eagles squared off against Great Falls on Friday night, falling to the NAIA Div. I powerhouse, 70-54. The Eagles were led in scoring by freshman, Gabriel Martinez with 17points. Turnovers and rebounds were the Eagles’ downfall, as Great Falls out rebounded the undersized Eagles by 19, and forced 21 Eagle turnovers.

The Eagles game Saturday was no easy task as they took on the defending NAIA Div. I National Champions, in University of Montana Western. Western jumped out to an early 12 point lead, only to see it disappear with 10 minutes left as the Eagles tied the game at 26. The pure shooting of Western proved too much for the Eagles in the second half as they shot 56% from the 3 point line. While showing spurts of greatness, the Eagles’ youth showed through, right before half as they could not stop a 22-6 run.

The Eagles had a better second half, but were still no match for the defending National Champions. The Eagles were led in scoring by freshman, Daniel Molina with 17, and Gabriel Martinez with 16 points respectively. Although the Eagles rebounded much better this game, they could not stop the pass penetration of Western as they went on to win, 105-77.

The game the Eagles needed to win, was the one they did! The conference win over Walla Walla University puts the Eagles atop the AII leader boards as they post a 1-0 record early in the season. “We earned a big win on the road”, head coach Ryan Cordova said after the game. “That win puts us in a great spot for the AII tournament”, he commented. The Eagles were led in scoring by junior, Clarence Rivas with 22, and Eric Watson who poured in 14, and also grabbed 7 rebounds. The post play of Kurtis Thomas proved dominant as time ran down as he had 4 points, 2 rebounds and 2 blocked shots in the last 2:30 of the game. The Eagles finally have a couple weeks off to study before they head to California the first week of January.