After scoring just four points in his first four collegiate games, it was a due time for Ellis Magnuson to have a breakout game.
 
Magnuson was one of four players in double figures, helping the Eastern Washington University men's basketball team jump out to a 15-2 lead and beat a High Point University team coached by Tubby Smith 90-74 Saturday (Nov. 23) at the Millis Center in High Point, N.C.
 
Magnuson scored 12 points in the first half, including a pair of 3-pointers after entering the game 0-of-7 as a collegian. The 2019 graduate of Borah High School in Boise, Idaho, has started all five games for Eastern, which is 3-2 thus far. High Point fell to 0-6.
 
"He's a very good basketball player, and he is going to be very good for us down the road," said Eastern head coach Shantay Legans. "He was great for us today."
 
Magnuson finished with 12 points, eight assists and three steals, with junior Jacob Davison and sophomore Kim Aiken Jr. each scoring 19 to lead EWU. Senior Mason Peatling was the fourth player in double figures with 15 to go along with a team-leading eight rebounds.
 
Eastern out-shot the Wildcats 47 percent to 33 percent, including 54 percent to 24 percent in the first half when EWU led 41-35. The Eagles host NCAA basketball powerhouse Belmont on Tuesday (Nov. 26) at 6:05 p.m. Pacific time at Reese Court in Cheney, Wash.
 
"The way we started off was great," added Legans. "That's what propelled us to the win today."
 
Coached by Tubby Smith, High Point entered the game averaging just 51.2 points per game this season while making only 33.2 percent of its shots overall and 28.0 percent from the 3-point line. Eastern entered shooting better than the Panthers at 41.3 percent, but that was skewed by EWU's 55.1 percent shooting versus Portland Bible in an overwhelming 107-25 victory on Nov. 5.
 
 
Records . . .
 
* Eastern is 3-2 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.
 
* High Point is 0-6 this year, and was 16-15 a year ago in Tubby Smith's first season at the helm, and finished 9-7 in league play. Located in High Point, N.C., the Panthers are in the Big South Conference and coached by Smith, who entered the year 613-317 in 28 seasons as a collegiate head coach. He was head coach for Kentucky when the Wildcats won the 1998 NCAA Tournament title.
 
 
What's Next . . .
 
* Playing at home for the first time since a 107-25 thrashing of Portland Bible College, Eastern faces a powerful Belmont University squad this Tuesday (Nov. 26) at 6:05 p.m. at Reese Court in Cheney, Wash. Belmont was 27-6 overall a year ago and won the Ohio Valley Conference title with a 16-2 record. The Bruins 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.
 
* Casey Alexander is in his first season as head coach, and has guided the Bruins to a 3-1 record heading into Saturday's (Nov. 23) game at Saint Louis. He inherited 6-foot-11 sophomore Nick Muszynski, who averaged 14.7 points and 5.8 rebounds last season. Through five games though, 6-3 sophomore guard Adam Kunkel is Belmont's leading scorer with a 21.2 scoring average while making 22-of-45 3-point shots for 48.9 percent. Muszynski is averaging 15.6 points, 4.4 rebounds and 2.0 blocks.  Belmont beat Lipscomb 73-67 on Nov. 20, with Kunkel and Muszynski each scoring 16. Versus High Point in a 90-51 win, both Muszynski and Kunkel scored 14 to lead the Bruins, who led 48-18 at halftime and by as many as 39 in the second half.
 
 
Top Performers . . .
 
* Magnuson hit 4-of-6 shots in the game, including 2-of-3 from the 3-point line. Aiken added five rebounds, three steals and a pair of blocked shots, and Davison also had three thefts. The Groves brothers combined for 13 points and seven rebounds off the bench, with sophomore Tanner Groves finishing with eight points and three boards, and true freshman Jacob Groves making his first appearance as an Eagle and scoring five points and grabbing four rebounds.
 
 
More Notes . . .
 
* Eastern had never played High Point prior to Saturday, with EWU having only played one previous game versus a current Big South Conference member. That came in a 75-61 win over Winthrop on Nov. 16, 2002.
 
* 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 Quick Start: "In our first couple of games, excluding the Portland Bible College game, we have been off to slow starts. We have been on the road and flying all over the place. The guys played tough and hard and understood exactly what we needed to do. They knew exactly how important having a great start here would be. We didn't want to give this team any false confidence. Watching them play, I felt we were the better team, but I think we're better than everybody. I think that we were better than Boston College, but that's just what I think. When we play our best basketball I think that we can beat everybody."
 
On Ellis Magnussen: "It was a very good for the young man. He is an extremely hard worker -- he gets in the gym every morning and every night. He and Kim Aiken are always getting into the gym, and you always like to see those guys that work hard to see it pay off. He's a freshman point guard, and I believe that is the hardest position, especially playing for me. I'm really hard on point guards. Anyone who's been around me knows that the big guys can mess up, but the point guards have to be really good and mentally tough. He is a very mentally tough kid, and he will be a great player. He's going to break a lot of records here and had eight assists. He might have had more if guys didn't miss some shots. He sees the floor well."
 
On Bench Play: "We had other guys step up. Jacob Groves played in his first game all season long, and that gave us a spark. He is all of 6-foot-7 and he is still growing. You get to see he and his brother on the court together. His brother played good, but he got into foul trouble. Jacob will keep coming along and he will be good. At one point we had five freshmen on the court at one time. That's fun to have out there so you can see the future of your program. For us the future is right now with Mason, Jacob, and Kim. As we keep pushing forward though, it is great to see those guys out there playing and pushing hard."
 
On High Point Free Throws: "We gave a team 37 free throws, and credit them for getting there 37 times. Referees have a hard job with the way we play. We are physical. We play up and down. We push the ball. It's a hard game, though we weren't very hard to referee today. We shoot a lot of threes, but we drive the ball to the basket very hard. It's hard though, and the players need to understand. When we play on the road, sometimes were not getting refereed the same as when we are at home. When you see that, the guys need to understand, and stop complaining about the referees. I need to help them out, and I need to do a better job, because they are following my lead. So I need to be better about not getting on the referees as much, especially on the road. We just need to get in, play as hard as we can, and get out with a win."