Eastern stole a game in Sacramento, and the Hornets did the same in Cheney.
 
Fouls and toughness were the deciding factors as the Eastern Washington University men's basketball team suffered a rare home loss in falling to Sacramento State 59-56 Thursday (Feb. 28) at Reese Court in Cheney, Wash.
 
Eastern held the Hornets to 39 percent shooting in the game, including just 30 percent in the first half. But Eastern was undone by its own 30 percent shooting in the opening 20 minutes and finished at 33.3 percent for the game. The game featured 41 fouls – 21 by Sac State and 20 by the Eagles – with the two teams combining for 31 made free throws (in 39 attempts) and just 35 total field goals.
 
Sac State's Marcus Graves, who nearly had a triple-double with 19 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists, gave Sac State the lead for good with a 3-pointer with 2:15 to play. Eastern missed its last three field goal attempts in a game that featured seven ties and nine lead changes.
 
"Sac State came out and had a great game plan – they played well against us and were tough," said Eastern head coach Shantay Legans. "They did a terrific job of keeping us out of rhythm. The game was a little choppy and there were a lot of fouls, kind of like the Southern Utah game last week. We space the floor so well and have players who can make plays, but at the same time they make the game choppy and foul our bigs. They come underneath, bump cutters and limit our freedom of movement."
 
Despite the loss, Eastern has won eight of its last 13 games in league play, and is 10-8 since starting the season 1-9. Eastern is now 9-4 at Reese Court where the Eagles had a seven-game winning streak come to an end with the setback. Eastern is 2-13 on opponent home courts, including last Saturday's 86-73 romp at Northern Arizona. Eastern was trying to beat a Sacramento State team it beat 94-92 on the road in overtime on Feb. 26.
 
Eastern plays Portland State Saturday at 2:05 p.m. on Senior Day at Reese Court, facing a Vikings team which beat EWU 78-65 in Portland. Eastern fell out of a fourth-place tie with Montana State, and is now tied with Southern Utah and Portland State in fifth at 9-8.
 
Eastern played its fourth-straight game without Jacob Davison, who scored 41 points in an 82-64 home win over NAU on Feb. 4. The Eagles are 2-2 in those four games.
 
 
Records . . .
 
* The Eagles are now 11-17 overall, and 9-8 in Big Sky Conference play, and are in a fifth-place tie in the league standings. The Eagles are 9-4 at home this season and 2-13 on the road.
 
* Sacramento State is now 13-13 overall and 7-10 in the Big Sky.
 
* Montana is in sole possession of first in the league standings at 13-3, followed closely by Northern Colorado at 13-4. The Grizzlies and Bears are followed by Weber State (10-7), Montana State (9-7), EWU (9-8), Southern Utah (9-8), Portland State (9-8), Northern Arizona (7-10), Sacramento State (6-10), Idaho State (5-11) and Idaho (1-16).
 
 
What's Next . . .
 
*  Portland State visits on Senior Day Saturday (March 2) at 2:05 p.m. Jesse Hunt, Ty Gibson and Cody Benzel will be playing the final regular season home game in their more than 100-game careers. Eastern will be out to avenge a 78-65 loss suffered Jan. 24 at Portland State. That was part of a three-game winning streak by the Vikings, which followed that by losing three in a row. However, PSU's 67-65 victory over Idaho on Thursday extended its current winning streak to six games, and the Vikings haven't lost since falling Feb. 11 at Sacramento State by a 78-67 score. Portland State is now 14-14 on the season and 9-8 in league play.
 
* Following the Portland State game, Eastern closes the regular season at Idaho State on March 7 and Weber State on March 9 to end the regular season. Staying at the top of the league standings is important because the top five teams in the league gain a first-round bye in the Big Sky Conference Tournament March 13-16 in Boise, Idaho.
 
 
Top Performers . . .
 
* Senior Jesse Hunt led the Eagles with 15 points, seven rebounds and a pair of blocked shots. He played just 29 minutes because of blow to his nose early in the game and foul trouble later in the contest. He now has 28 career double-figure scoring performances in his career to go along with 14 performances with 10 or more rebounds. He has nine double-doubles on the season and 11 in his career.
 
* Junior guard Tyler Kidd scored 13 points, but hit just 4-of-14 shots overall and was 1-of-5 from the 3-point stripe. He also had a career-high five steals and three assists. He has scored in double figures 13 times, all coming in EWU's last 18 games.
 
* Redshirt freshman Tanner Groves hit 5-of-6 free throws and finished with nine points, six rebounds and two blocked shots.
 
* Redshirt freshman Kim Aiken Jr. had a team-high nine rebounds, but missed all three of his shot attempts and finished with two points on a pair of free throws. He has four double-figure scoring performances of the season and two with at least 10 rebounds.
 
* Junior Mason Peatling was limited to 22 minutes because of foul trouble, and scored only six points and had seven rebounds. An honorable mention All-Big Sky selection a year ago, he has 26 career games scoring in double figures, with nine rebounding in double figures. He has two double-doubles this season and eight in his career.
 
* Sophomore Jacob Davison has not played since suffering an ankle injury versus Northern Colorado on Feb. 16. Before scoring 13 against the Bears, he had scored at least 20 points in six of his last seven games, and eight total this season (nine in his career). He's had 15 performances in double-digits (25 in his career).
 
 
Key Stats . . .
 
* At 33.3 percent for the game, EWU had its poorest shooting night in Big Sky Conference play and worst overall since making 28.8 percent at Washington on Nov. 27. EWU is now 10-1 this season when it makes at least 45 percent of its shots from the field (3-0 at 50 percent or better) and 1-16 when it doesn't.
 
* Defensively, Eastern has held its last two opponents to less than 40 percent shooting from the field and 35 percent or less from the 3-point stripe. Sac State sank 38.8 and 35.0 percent, respectively, a week after NAU was held to 33.3 percent overall and 12.5 percent from the arc.
 
* Eastern had a 36-29 rebounding advantage, but had 18 turnovers to Sac State's 14. EWU has out-rebounded nine of its last 12 opponents after having advantages in just two of its first 16 games. The Eagles are 8-3 when they out-rebound opponents and 3-14 when having less or tied.
 
 
Notables . . .
 
* Since Eastern became a member of NCAA Division I in the 1983-84 season, the Eagles are now 36-15 versus Sacramento State, and the two schools did not play against each other prior to that. The Eagles have won 29 of their last 40 games against the Hornets, but had their nine-game winning streak overall and five at home come to an end with the 59-56 home loss on Feb. 28. Eastern has a 21-4 record versus Sacramento State in Cheney, are 13-11 in Sacramento and 2-0 on a neutral court. The Eagles beat the Hornets earlier this season 94-92 in overtime in Sacramento, and hadn't lost in the series since falling in Sacramento by a 90-77 score on Jan. 17, 2015, and had not lost at home since a 60-53 defeat on Jan. 12, 2013. Eastern is 2-0 versus Sac State in the Big Sky Conference Tournament, winning 89-70 in the 2017 quarterfinals in Reno, Nevada, and 91-83 in the 2015 quarterfinals in Missoula. En route to the 2015 title, the Eagles made 16-of-17 shots from the field versus the Hornets, including seven of its last eight in the first half and their first nine of the second half.
 
* Senior guard Cody Benzel remains fourth in school history with 187 3-pointers in his career.  Senior teammate Ty Gibson is 10th with 147. Both of them have played in more than 100 games for the Eagles, with current totals of 129 (second in school history) for Benzel and 124 (fifth) for Gibson. Jesse Hunt is right behind with 111 games played.
 
* Eastern is now 9-4 at home at Reese Court this season, and is 55-10 overall there in the last four-plus seasons (85 percent). In the previous four seasons, EWU has gone 46-6 at Reese Court, including an 11-1 mark last season and 15-1 record in 2016-17.
 
 
More Comments from Head Coach Shantay Legans . . .
 
On Physical Game: "We just have to be tougher and we have to be better prepared for games like this. Certain teams are going to play us that way – there were 41 fouls and you have to play through it. It was tough because we had key players in foul trouble."
 
On Close Games in the Big Sky: "Every game in this league is going to come down to a couple of possessions, and we have to do a better job of fighting. It doesn't matter how good or how bad you play, blowouts are rare in this league. Every game is going to be close and come down to key possessions. You have to be mentally tough on the defensive end and tough on the offensive end."