Eastern Washington University Athletics

25-4; Coach Jerry Krause
 
Eastern outscored opponents by an average of nearly 18 points per game on its way to a 25-4 record which still stands as the second-best winning percentage (.862) in school history. Eastern came one victory from a berth to the NAIA Tournament after finishing as the NAIA District 1 Tournament runner-up for the second-straight season with a 66-59 loss to Central Washington in the championship game. Eastern made 52.6 percent of its shots from the field that season to set a school record that still stands, as the illustrious career of Hall of Fame player Ron Cox came to an end. Cox earned first team All-America honors for the Eagles after averaging 16.7 points and 12.7 rebounds per game while making a school-record 66.0 percent of his shots. Cox was inducted into the Eastern Athletics Hall of Fame with the second class of inductees in 1998. He joined fellow senior Ed Waters as All-NAIA District 1 and All-Evergreen Conference first team performers. Waters averaged 11.0 assists per game to set a school record that still stands, and also averaged 6.4 points per game. Paul Hungenberg, who would become a third team All-American for the Eagles a year later, averaged 14.3 points, 5.6 rebounds and 4.2 assists on 52 percent shooting from the field and 85 percent from the free throw line. Mike Heath also averaged 14.3 points, and Eugene Glenn averaged 11.3 points and 8.0 rebounds per game. Cox and Waters were team captains, and Cox won team MVP honors for the third-straight season. Cox was also chosen as most inspirational and Heath was selected as the team’s best defender. The team’s head coach was Jerry Krause, who earned induction into the Eastern Athletics Hall of Fame in 2005. The Eagles finished the season 25-4 overall and co-champions in the Evergreen Conference with an 11-1 record. Only Eastern’s 1945-46 team had a better winning percentage in what is now more than 100 years of Eastern basketball history. That team was 31-4 (.886) and was inducted into the Eastern Athletics Hall of Fame in 2003. Eastern opened the NAIA District 1 playoffs with a 73-56 home victory over Simon Fraser, then beat Alaska-Fairbanks 75-53 at Reese Court. That semifinal victory was the 15th during a school-record 31-game home court winning streak that began on Dec. 1, 1976 and was ended on Nov. 27, 1978. In the championship game, played in Ellensburg, Eastern fell 66-59 to their arch-rivals. The home court advantage, interestingly, came down to a miniscule .029 difference between Central and Eastern in a percentage formula used to determine seeding. With road wins and victories over winning teams weighing large in the point system, Central averaged 2.737 points in its 19 games versus NAIA competition while EWU had a 2.708 average in 24 games. The difference came when Central beat Southern Oregon on Feb. 11 to gain three points, but because that loss gave Southern Oregon a losing record, Eastern’s 98-86 win the next night was worth only two points.
 
Team Members: Ron Cox, Robert Gatlin, Eugene Glenn, Martin Harpole, Mike Heath, Paul Hungenberg, Jeff Miller, Ray Palmer, Terry Pepple, Terry Reed, Wayne Robinson, Jim Savage, Ed Waters, Vic White.
 
Coaching Staff: Jerry Krause (head coach), Ron Raver (assistant), Larry Hinshaw (graduate assistant), John Mulvenna (graduate assistant), Greg Smith (graduate assistant).

1976-77 Screamin' Eagles -- Front Row (left to right): Program Assistant Dave Stocker, Tom Rife, Wayne Robinson, Paul Hungenberg, Vic White, Terry Pepple, Robert Gatlin, Ed Waters, Terry Reed, Coach Larry Hinshaw. Back Row: Head Coach Jerry Krause, Mike Heath, Ray Palmer, Ron Cox, Martin Harpole, Jeff Miller, Rick Piper, Jim Savage, Eugene Glenn, Coach Ron Raver.