Riverside, Calif. – The Golden Eagles men's basketball team dropped both of their contests this weekend, versus the host West Coast Baptist College and Multnomah University. La Sierra fell 80-75 to West Coast Baptist on Friday afternoon, and then followed that up with a 93-82 loss to Multnomah University (Portland, Ore.) on Saturday night.
While the Golden Eagles scored an average of 78.5 points, they gave up an average of 84 points. Their two opponents shot an impressive 29-for-68 from the 3pt line (43%). Of the 173 points La Sierra's defense surrendered, half of the points came from beyond the arc.
La Sierra jumped out to the early lead on the host Eagles, taking a 17-3 lead right out of the gates, but West Coast Baptist quickly found their rhythm and began connecting from long range to cut into the Golden Eagles lead. After trailing 39-31 at the half, La Sierra fought their way back tying the score at 76-76 with minutes remaining to play. But clutch 3-point buckets by Imaan Vicente and Daniel Foster gave West Coast Baptist the lead for good.
Vicente led all scorers with 34 points, while Foster added 26 points.
Andre Marquez and Gerald Williams each scored 21 points in the game, with Keenan Braden adding 13 points of his own.
Against Multnomah, the Golden Eagles faced a barrage from downtown as the Lions connected on 19 of their 40 three-point attempts. For a team that averages 40 three-point attempts per game, they knocked down a total of four three-pointers over their average of 15 made per game.
On multiple occasions the Golden Eagles put together runs to cut into the Lions lead, but each and every time Multnomah answered from long range towards rebuilding their lead.
Multnomah had five players score in double-figures, led by Blake Updike who finished with 21 points.
Williams led the Golden Eagles with 24 points on 10-of-21 shooting. Nicholas Culver added 16 points on 5-of-10 shooting, including 4-of-7 from the three-point line. Lance Jones and Marquez each finished with 14 points, as Marquez fell one rebound short of a double-double.
As a team the Golden Eagles had a season-high 20 assists, with Williams (5) and Marquez (4) accounting nine of the 20 assists.
The losses drop the men's basketball team to 1-5 on the young season. They will now take a break away from action until December 3 when they host Hope International University in their home opener. La Sierra opened the season with a 78-55 loss at Hope, back on November 5. Thursday's home opener is scheduled to tip-off at 7:30pm
