This was the definition of a team win, and one of making free throws down the stretch.
 
The Eastern Washington University men's basketball team sank its final 10 free throws in the last 4 1/2 minutes to help the Eagles defeat a powerful Belmont University squad 87-82 on Tuesday (Nov. 26) at Reese Court in Cheney, Wash.
 
Playing at home for the first time since a 107-25 thrashing of Portland Bible College three weeks ago, Eastern led for just 8:40 of the game, but was able to take the lead for good with 3:58 to play with an 8-0 run. Kim Aiken Jr., scored eight of EWU's last 12 points on his way to his fourth double-double of the season with 11 points and 11 rebounds.
 
Six Eagles scored in double figures, as all nine players who saw action scored and had at least one rebound. The win helped EWU improve to 4-2, while the Bruins – a NCAA Tournament team a year ago – fell to 4-3.
 
"Our team came in and took advantage of our opportunity to play a team like that here at home," said Eastern head coach Shantay Legans. "Belmont is a very well-coached team and a good basketball club. But tonight was our night – we played well and we played hard. We followed the game plan to a tee."

Senior Mason Peatling led the Eagles with 17 points, and true freshman point guard Ellis Magnuson, redshirt freshman Casson Rouse, sophomore Tanner Groves and junior Jacob Davison also scored in double figures. Eastern sank 13-of-17 free throws in the game and had 10 3 pointers despite getting out-shot 53 percent to 51 percent and out-rebounded 35-32. Eastern held the Bruins to nine 3-pointers on 24 attempts for 37.5 percent in the game.
 
Eastern trailed early 7-0, but clawed back to knot the game at 40 just before halftime. Eastern took a 68-65 lead in the second half on a basket by Groves, then the game was tied at 75-all when Peatling made a pair of free throws.
 
That started an 8-0 run that included a basket by Aiken with 3:58 to play to take the lead for good. He also made two free throws with 3:18 left, two with 12 seconds remaining and the icing on the cake with a pair with 3.8 ticks on the clock. A missed front end of a one-plus-one free throw opportunity by the Bruins helped set-up the final four charity shots for Aiken.
 
 
Records . . .
 
* Eastern is 4-2 on the season with a two-game winning streak. Eastern was coming off a 90-74 road win at High Point, marking EWU's first victory in the Eastern time zone since knocking off Indiana 88-86 in Bloomington, Ind., on Nov. 24, 2014. 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.
 
* Although the Bruins are just 4-3 on the season, 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 guided the Bruins to a four-game winning streak sandwiched between losses on Nov. 6 to Illinois State (79-72) and Nov. 23 against Saint Louis (60-55).
 
* Alexander inherited 6-foot-11 sophomore Nick Muszynski, who averaged 14.7 points and 5.8 rebounds last season. Through six games though, 6-3 sophomore guard Adam Kunkel was Belmont's leading scorer with a 19.2 scoring average while making 24-of-51 3-point shots for 47.1 percent. Muszynski entered Tuesday averaging 13.5 points, 4.5 rebounds and 2.0 blocks, and guard Grayson Murphy is chipping in 10.7 points, 9.3 rebounds and a team-leading 4.8 assists and 2.3 steals. Muszynski scored 30 to led Belmont against the Eagles, with Murphy and Grayson each scoring 10. But Kunkel was held to 0-of-3 shooting from the 3-point arc.
 
 
What's Next . . .
 
* Eastern takes a 2-2 road record back to Seattle next Wednesday (Dec. 4) when it faces the No. 23/22 University of Washington at Alaska Airlines Arena at Hec Edmundson Pavilion. Tipoff is 7:05 p.m. Pacific time in a game broadcast on the Pac-12 Networks. It will also be aired live on radio on 700-AM ESPN, 105.3-FM, via the web at tunein.com and via mobile phone app, with pre-game coverage starting a half-hour prior to tipoff. Larry Weir serves as the play-by-play broadcaster.

* Washington enters its home game Dec. 2 versus South Dakota with a 5-1 record, and is ranked this week 23rd by Associated Press and 22nd in the coaches poll. The Huskies opened the season by knocking off 16th-ranked Baylor 67-64, but suffered its first loss of the season on Nov. 16 against Tennessee (75-62). Washington has rebounded for victories over Maine (72-53), Montana (73-56) and San Diego (88-69) since then, and have a Dec. 8 home date versus No. 8/7 Gonzaga looming. Three Huskies are averaging in double figures in scoring, led by 6-foot-9 freshman Isaiah Stewart with averages of 17.3 points, 6.7 rebounds and 2.0 blocked shots. Junior 6-6 guard Nahziah Carter is averaging 5.3 points, 6.3 boards and 1.8 steals, and 6-9 freshman Jade McDaniels out of Federal Way, Wash., chips in 13.8 points, 5.5 rebounds, 2.7 assists, 1.5 blocks and 1.5 steals. A year ago, the Huskies were 27-9 and defeated EWU 83-59 on Nov. 27, 2018.
 
* The Eagles are 1-15 all-time versus the Huskies with an 11-game losing streak. Eastern hasn't beaten them since Dec. 14, 2002, and is 13-87 all-time versus the Pac-12 (3-45 as a member of DI). Eastern snapped a 21-game losing streak versus the Pac-12 with a 67-61 victory at Stanford on Nov. 14, 2017.
 
 
Top Performers . . .
 
* Peatling scored his 17 points on 6-of-13 shooting from the field, and also had five rebounds and a pair of steals. Groves came off the bench to scored 14, hitting 6-of-12 shots and grabbing four boards. Magnuson had 13 points and nine assists in just his sixth game as a collegian, and Rouse and Aiken each finished with 11. Rouse added four assists and three rebounds, and Aiken had 11 rebounds and a pair of steals. Davison was EWU's final player in double figures with 10, but also scoring were Jacob Groves (Tanner's younger brother) with five and Tyler Kidd and Tyler Robertson with three apiece.
 
 
More Notes . . .
 
* The Eagles have never played Belmont, but were previously 3-5 versus the Ohio Valley Conference (3-3 as a NCAA Division I member).The last meeting versus an OVC member was on Nov. 22, 2017, when Eastern beat Eastern Kentucky 83-62 in the MGM Resorts Main Event in Las Vegas, Nevada (Eastern finished 3rd in the Middleweight Bracket).
 
* 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. Through Tuesday, Eastern finished 2-2 in four games and Belmont was also 2-2. High Point was 0-4, with Saint Louis 3-0 entering its game Wednesday versus 2-1 Boston College. The Eagles appeared in the 2015 Gotham Classic, and in recent years have participated in several other events hosted by the Gazelle Group. 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 information on the event is available at: http://www.gazellegroup.com/main/gotham.
 
* A pair of Eastern players entered the Belmont game averaging in double figures thus far, led by the 17.4 average of Jacob Davison and the double-double by Kim Aiken Jr. of 14.8 points and 10.8 rebounds per game. Davison scored 25 in the Seattle win on Nov. 9, 26 versus Boston College and 19 against High Point. Aiken had 19 points and five rebounds against High Point, but prior to that had a string of three-straight double-doubles. He had 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. Aiken followed with a double-double of 13 points and 13 rebounds at Saint Louis, then had 17 and 13, respectively, at BC. Forward Mason Peatling, one of just two Eagle seniors on this year's team, is averaging 9.8 points, 6.0 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.4 blocks. The other senior, guard Tyler Kidd, has come off the bench to average 7.4 points and 2.4 assists.
 
 
More Comments from Head Coach Shantay Legans . . .
 
On All Nine Players Scoring: "It was a team effort – we made the extra passes and we say family every time we break it down in the locker room. I believe in everybody who is involved with our program – they all work so hard. To see that hard work and dedication pay off with a win like this is very gratifying. The ultimate goal is to play well, and we're getting better game-by-game. We have a lot of season left, but I'm proud of this group. This is great feather in our cap early in the season."
 
On Victory: "We did a good job and our assistant coaches did a remarkable job of getting our team prepared. The team followed the instructions pretty well. We came out with a win in front of a good crowd during a holiday week. We appreciate them coming out and the atmosphere was awesome. The last minute was surreal – it was loud in here, jumpin' and fun."
 
On Contributions of Younger Players: "You can look at those contributions and say the future is bright, but the future is now for us. We have great leadership at the top – Mason is an unbelievable leader. He had a good game, and Tanner came in and played unbelievable. He got up 12 shots and that was a big, big energy boost, especially when he was in together with his brother."
 
On Following Game Plan: "It doesn't look like that by giving their big guy 30 points, but he earned it. We tried to shut them down from the 3-point line and we did a good job with that. When they don't get 13 or more 3-pointers per game, they've lost both of those games. So we saw that and tried to shut those down. They ended up with nine and that's still good, but we did a good job following the game plan through for a full 40 minutes. We didn't let their leading scorer hit a 3-pointer, and that was a big part of our win."
 
 
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