Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 PRICE, Utah – This past weekend the Utah State Eastern men's basketball team played their first home games of the season in the Utah State Eastern Invitational.

They played a tough Arizona Western team on Friday night in the home opener which they lost 82-65. The Eagles battled the Matadors in the first half very closely, only being down two at the half.

The story of the game for the Eagles was the mediocre free throw shooting and foul trouble. Both teams were in the double bonus in both periods of the game making both times spend a lot of time at the free throw line.

In the first half the Eagles shot 53.6% from the free throw line. They improved in the second half though shooting 71% from the free throw line.

Eagles Head Coach Vando Becheli said that the new rules this season is the reason for the significant amount of fouls throughout the game.

"This is a new point of emphasis that the NJCAA and also NCAA is working this season. It's a new definition of "space" and how can you guard a player with the ball. Right now it's a big adjustment for players, coaches and even for the officials," said Becheli.

Leading the Eagles in points against Arizona Western was freshman point guard Quinn Peters, who finished the night with 18 points and 5 assists. Sophomore forward Roman Mcknight finished the game with 12 points and 12 rebounds.

To close out the Utah State Eastern Invitational the Eagles played against the Treasure Valley Community College Chukars. This game was a different story for the Eagles than the previous game. They were down five at halftime against TVCC and then with nine minutes left in the game had a 10 point lead.

The Chukars came back in the final minutes of the second half and defeated the Eagles in a nail biter 79-78. With the loss, the Eagles extend their losing streak to four games.

Sophomore Koel Cutler had a huge game off the bench for the Eagles, leading the team in points with 14. Freshman Nico Rojas also made a big contribution off the bench scoring 10 points .

Sophomore forward Alex Morrell led the Eagles in rebounds with eight and Peters led the team with six assists. 

Becheli believes the losses that his team has suffered is due to the mistakes throughout the games not just one or two plays.

"These losses is all consequences that we do during the whole game and not just the isolated plays. First of all we need to get better on defense, because we are sending to many players to the foul line and this are leading us to a situation of  foul trouble and the opponents scoring easy on us," said Becheli.

The Eagles will move on to the next tournament this week in Rock Springs, Wyoming. They play this Friday against Western Wyoming and again on Saturday versus Laramie Community College.

Becheli said that the schedule will only get tougher for his team especially this week when Thanksgiving is this Thursday before the tournament.

"I think that we have a tough schedule. This week will be tough because we will going to Wyoming and play against two good teams there.We will practice normally like everybody else, it means, we will have practice sessions on Monday-Thursday here at our gym and then heading to Rock Springs on Thursday after Thanksgiving dinner, have a shoot around Friday morning and play at night against Western Wyoming,"

Fans can follow the Eagles all season long on Facebook at USU Eastern Athletics and on Twitter at twitter.com/usueathletics.