THATCHER — The Eastern Arizona College Men’s basketball team wasted no time getting started on Saturday night in their 82-61 win over Mesa. EAC led 14-0 before former Globe star BJ Burries hit the first basket of the game for the Thunderbirds to make it 14-3. The Monsters ran the score up to 20-6 and led 43-23 at halftime.
Freshman Jalen Brown led the Monsters fast start with 14 points. He would add another 14 points in the 2nd half for a game high 28.
Mesa made a 15-3 run midway through the 2nd half but the Monsters weathered the storm and cruised to victory.
Sophomore Nate Pollard added 11 points and 14 rebounds. Burries led Mesa with 22.
Eastern Arizona will host Arizona Western on Monday night, March 2nd at 7:30pm for the Region 1 Championship. The teams split their regular season meetings with each team winning on their home court. It will be the first time EAC has hosted the championship since the 2006/2007 season.
The winner of Monday night’s game will travel to Salt Lake City, Utah to take on the 27-4 SLCC Bruins on Saturday, March 7th for the right to get the automatic bid into The Tournament in Hutchinson, Kansas.
Eastern Arizona’s last appearance in The Tournament was 2007/2008 when they finished in 5th place.
