PENDLETON — A few late mistakes leading to easy baskets for Nixyaawii again led to defeat for Union as the Golden Eagles took a 70-54 1A Old Oregon League win on Tuesday, Jan. 30, in the Nixyaawii gym.

“It was another slugfest,” Union head coach Odin Miller said. “Nixyaawii is a very tough place to play but our boys came out and stood toe to toe with them all evening. We played to where we were down two possessions with a few minutes to go in the fourth and we have a couple turnovers and they go down and hit a couple shots. There is a very slim margin of error against Nixyaawii.”

The Bobcats only trailed by six points at halftime with the Golden Eagles leading 36-30. Nixyaawii doubled up on the Bobcats in the third quarter, outscoring Union 20-10.

With both teams scoring identical 14 points in the final eight minutes, the win, for the second time this season, went the way of the Golden Eagles.

In the loss, Tee Ledbetter led the Bobcats with 23 points to go with 11 rebounds. Chase Koshinsky ended his night with 13 points.

Rylen Bronson added 17 points and five assists for Nixyaawii, while Symon Picard had 15 points, and Marcellus Scott seven rebounds and four steals.

Union (15-6 overall, 5-2 1A Old Oregon League) remains playing league contests on the road Feb. 1 with a trip to Helix to meet Griswold (2-15 overall, 0-6 1A Old Oregon League).