Western took the road again to Wilburton on Thursday night and lost a 98-93 decision to Eastern.

The Pioneers had difficulty with their transition defense in the first period and went into halftime down 10. Western reeled in the Mountaineers outscoring them 53-48 in the second period, but were unable to catch the hot shooting foe.

Eastern connected on 10 three pointers on the night.

Stirling Thomas led all scorers with 32 and Jedarian Jackson chipped in 20. Western drops to 10-7 and 1-5 in Region 2.

“I was disappointed with us constantly not getting back on defense in the first period. We gave up a handful of breakaway layups that really hurt the bottom line. On the flip side, we had some guys like Cameron Hailey do a great job on defense and toughness. We have to continue to move forward,” Coach Rolando De La Barrera said.