Their rebounding kept up, but the Eagles couldn't keep up with the hot shooting of the Billikens.
The Eastern Washington University men's basketball team suffered its first loss of the season, getting out-shot 57 percent to 30 percent in a non-conference game at unbeaten Saint Louis Wednesday (Nov. 13) in St. Louis, Mo., in a Gotham Classic Game at Chaifetz Arena.
The Billikens of the Atlantic 10 Conference had a stretch of 12 makes in 13 attempts spanning halftime, and turned a six-point lead into a 19-point lead early in the second half. Saint Louis, which made only 1-of-12 free throws in the first half, led by as many as 28 and trailed by no less than 14 the rest of the way. At one point in the second half, Saint Louis had made 21 of 24 shots for 88 percent.
"We didn't play particularly well on the offensive end – we have to get better," said Eastern head coach
Shantay Legans, whose team next plays at Boston College on Nov. 20. "But our heads are held high and we played tough and battled."
Eastern's rebounding was impressive in the loss, finishing with 40 compared to the 41 of one of the top rebounding teams in NCAA Division I. A year ago, the Billikens were 17th in rebounding margin (plus 6.5 per game), 10th in total rebounds (39.6 per game) and fifth in offensive boards (13.7). The Eagles forced 18 turnovers, but also had 18 themselves.
"When you lose by only one on the glass against a team like this, that is huge for us," said Legans. "You have to play through the tough times and we didn't play as well offensively as we need do to win this game. We'll get another chance against Boston College, which is another big team like this. I know we will because our team has great character. I'm looking forward to the next game. But we have to put these guys in better positions to make some easy shots.
Sophomore
Kim Aiken Jr. paved the way with his second straight double-double with 13 rebounds and 13 points. Senior
Mason Peatling finished with 10 points, six rebounds and three assists, and senior
Tyler Kidd came off the bench to score 10.
The Eagles had a tough shooting half in the first 20 minutes, making just five of their first 23 shots to fall behind 24-14. Eastern made its last three of shots in the half, but the Billikens finished with a stretch of six-straight makes and took a 36-24 lead at halftime.
After a miss to open the second half, Saint Louis had another stretch of six-straight makes to open a 56-35 lead with 12:22 to play. A basket by Aiken and 3-pointers by
Casson Rouse and
Tyler Kidd helped cut the margin to 14, but that was the closest EWU would get the rest of the way.
Records . . .
* Eastern is 2-1 on the season. An injury-plagued season in 2018-19 ended with a second-straight appearance in the Big Sky Conference Tournament championship game for the Eagles, and four of the main players from that squad return. Eastern had its fourth-straight season with 10 Big Sky wins or more and a sixth-straight year with a winning league record in finishing 12-9 in the league and 16-18 overall.
* Last Saturday's (Nov. 9) 74-66 victory at Seattle began a four-game road stretch for EWU, which defeated Portland Bible College 107-25 in its season opener on Nov. 2. Six players scored in double figures in the rout, with the Eagles not returning home again until Nov. 26 when they host Belmont. Belmont is another opponent who advanced to the NCAA Tournament a year ago. Junior
Jacob Davison has scored 40 points EWU's first two games, including 25 in the Seattle win. Sophomore
Kim Aiken Jr. scored 25 points, including a double-double with 11 points and 19 rebounds against the Redhawks in which EWU used an 11-1 run in the second half to overcome a nine-point deficit.
* Saint Louis is now 3-0, and played in the NCAA Tournament a year ago, and are coming of a 23-13 record overall. The Billikens were 10-8 in the Atlantic 10 Conference, and thus far have started the season 2-0. After a 77-48 win over Kentucky Wesleyan in an exhibition game, Saint Louis beat Florida Gulf Coast (89-67) and Valparaiso (81-70). Former Eagle head coach Ray Giacoletti is now on the staff of Billiken head coach Travis Ford with the title of Assistant to the Head Coach.
What's Next . . .
* Eastern continues its four-game road stretch with Gothham Classic games at Boston College and High Point before returning home for a Gothham Classic game versus Belmont on Nov. 26. Eastern plays at Boston College in a week on Nov. 20, and High Point in North Carolina three days after that on Nov. 23.
Top Performers . . .
* Aiken, who was coming off the fourth-best rebounding effort in school history, had the sixth double-double of his career with 13 points and 13 boards after finishing with 19 rebounds and 11 points at Seattle on Nov. 9. He now has six performances in double figures in rebounds as an Eagle, and 11 with at least 10 points. He made 5-of-15 shots from the field against Saint Louis, and also had three steals, three assists and a blocked shot.
* Peatling (10) and Kidd (10) also scored in double figures, and Rouse contributed six. Peatling had six rebounds, and he and junior
Jack Perry each had three assists. Sophomore
Tanner Groves made all four of his shots to finish with nine points and a pair of boards.
More Notes . . .
* Eastern is now 1-2 all-time versus Saint Louis, with the first meeting taking place on Dec. 27, 1984. Eastern won that game at home 80-74, then fell on a neutral court against the Billikens on Dec. 25, 1988. Eastern was playing in the Chaminade Christmas Classic in Honolulu, Hawaii, in 1988.
* Eastern is playing four games this November – including a home game against Belmont -- as part of the Gotham Classic, which is presented by the Gazelle Group. More information on the event is available at:
http://www.gazellegroup.com/main/gotham. Besides EWU and Belmont, other teams include Saint Louis, Boston College and High Point. The Eagles appeared in the 2015 Gotham Classic, and in recent years have participated in several other events hosted by the Gazelle Group. Eastern's four games in the tournament are highlighted by a home game versus Belmont on Tuesday, Nov. 26 at Reese Court in Cheney, Wash. Located in Nashville, Tenn., the Bruins finished 27-6 a year ago and received an at-large bid as a No. 11 seed to the NCAA Tournament. Belmont beat Temple 81-70 in the "First Four" and then fell to Maryland 79-77 in the first round. As part of the Gotham Classic, EWU will also play at Saint Louis on Nov. 13, Boston College on Nov. 20 and High Point on Nov. 23 in games that will take the Eagles to Missouri, Massachusetts and North Carolina. First played in 2012, the Gotham Classic features five teams from across the country in one of the most competitive events of its kind. In eight short years, the tournament has attracted the likes of Syracuse, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Louisville, Memphis, Davidson, Pittsburgh, NC State, and West Virginia, among a host of other prominent programs.
More Comments from Head Coach Shantay Legans . . .
On Defense: "When you don't see the ball going in for the opponents, you are playing good defense. We came out and stopped them on 18 of their first 24 possessions. But we didn't follow the game plan defensively after that, and that's what happens. We got spaced out against a team that doesn't shoot the three well, and we wanted to give them some open looks and protect the paint. But we didn't protect the paint great and gave them 34 points. That is the lowest for them this season, but we didn't want to give them that many. We didn't do a good job in the second half, and we have to make sure our guys know what we want to do defensively for an entire game. These guys will.
