There was a lot of Mason Peatling in the first half, a lot of Cody Benzel in the second half and a lot of Jesse Hunt in between.
 
That trio combined for 68 points to lead the Eastern Washington University men's basketball team to a 90-84 victory over Montana State to advance in the Big Sky Conference Basketball Tournament presented by My Place Hotels on Thursday (March 14) at CenturyLink Arena in Boise, Idaho.
 
The 15-17 Eagles continue their quest toward the third NCAA Tournament berth in school history when the Eagles take their league-best four-game winning streak into the semifinals against Southern Utah on Friday (March 15) at 7 p.m. Pacific time. The game follows a championship game appearance by the Eastern women's team versus Portland State at noon Pacific time.
 
On his way to a double-double with a career-high 28 points and 14 rebounds, the 6-foot-8 Peatling had 18 points and eight boards in the first half alone. In the second half Benzel took over, scoring 15 of his 22 points and closing the game with five 3-pointers. Hunt provided 18 points, five rebounds and a pair of assists.
 
Eastern had dominating advantages in second-chance points (21-4) and points in the paint (34-4), and used an 11-0 run to lead by as many as 12 in the second half. After missing four free throws earlier in the half, Eastern sank seven of its last eight to close out the game. After nine ties and nine lead changes in the first half, Eastern led nearly the entirety of the second half with just one tie.
 
"I've said it all year, I think we have the best big men in the league," said Eastern head coach Shantay Legans. "Tonight the way Jesse and Mason played was phenomenal. They play with so much heart and confidence, and they instill confidence in their team. When our other players see them do everything they possibly can and keep coming back for more, it gives them confidence to make plays. It took us a while to get our mojo this season, but when you have leaders like we have on this ballclub, I have a lot of confidence in what they can accomplish."
 
Behind a monster first half for Peatling, Eastern lead at intermission 49-44. He scored 19 points and had eight rebounds, as EWU had 10 offensive boards on its way to a 15-0 advantage in second chance points. Eastern trailed by as many as six, but scored the final seven of the second half on baskets by Benzel, Peatling and a 3-pointer by Jack Perry.
 
Both teams sank over 50 percent from the field in the first half, which featured nine lead changes and nine ties.
 
Benzel took over in the second half, and his 3-pointer with 15:53 left gave EWU its largest lead of the night at seven. The Bobcats cut the lead to one twice, but both times Benzel led EWU runs to keep MSU at bay. The first was a 6-0 run that included a four-point play on a 3-pointer by Benzel.
 
The second was an 11-0 run that included back-to-back 3-pointers by Benzel, followed by hoops by Tyler Kidd and Kim Aiken Jr. to give the Eagles a 74-62 lead with 8:19 left. Montana State miss four-straight shots during the run and was scoreless for four minutes.
 
Montana State tied the game with 1:31 left, but Hunt hit a big basket at the 1:05 mark to give EWU the lead for good.
 
 
Records . . .
 
* The Eagles are now 15-17 overall, and 12-8 in Big Sky Conference play. The Eagles are 10-4 at home this season and 4-13 on the road with a three-game winning streak, and are now 1-0 on neutral courts. Eastern won 11 of its last 16 games in league play, and is 14-8 overall since starting the season 1-9. This is the fourth-straight year Eastern has recorded 10 league wins or more, and the sixth-straight year they have had a winning record. Eastern is 65-29 in those six years for a .691 winning percentage.
 
* Sixth-seeded Montana State closed the year 15-17 on the season after winning its opener in the Big Sky Tournament with a 75-71 victory over Idaho. The Bobcats were 11-9 in the league and finished in a fourth-place tie with Weber State and Sacramento State in the league standings.
 
 
What's Next . . .
 
* The third-seeded Eagles advance to play No. 7 seed Southern Utah, which defeated second-seeded Northern Colorado 83-64 in Friday's quarterfinal action. The Eagles have now advanced to the semifinals in each of the last three seasons, and reached last year's championship game. They advanced to the quarterfinals in 2016 and were tourney champions in 2015.
 
* The Thunderbirds, who split with EWU during the regular season, led by nine at halftime and opened a 24-point led in the second half versus the Bears. Four SUU players scored in double figures as it made 53 percent of its 3-point attempts and sank 11-f-21 3-pointers (52 percent). Also advancing to the semifinals was No. 4 Weber State (an 81-71 winner over No. 5 Portland State) and top-seeded Montana (a 79-73 victor over No. 9 Sacramento State).
 
* The Eagles are 12-6 all-time against Southern Utah (7-1 in Cheney, 4-5 in Cedar City, 1-0 on a neutral court), including an 82-79 win earlier this season in Cheney (Feb. 2) and a 76-62 setback in Cedar City (Feb. 21). Last season, EWU recorded an 82-70 victory over the Thunderbirds on March 9, 2018, in the quarterfinals of the Big Sky Conference Tournament in Reno, Nevada. Earlier in the year, EWU had its eight-game winning streak over SUU snapped with a 66-62 overtime loss on Jan. 20, 2018, in Cedar City, Utah. The Thunderbirds joined the Big Sky in the 2012-13 season and EWU is 11-2 versus them since then.
 
* The semifinals will be carried via Eleven Sports (including DirecTV Channel 623), and Eastern games are carried live via radio on 700-AM ESPN and 105.3-FM in the Spokane/Cheney area, with Larry Weir calling the play-by-play. Broadcasts begin a half-hour prior to tipoff.  Fans can also watch the webcast of the semifinal game via PlutoTV (http://plutotv.com) and at http://watchbigsky.com. The title game on Saturday (March 16) will be televised at 5 p.m. Pacific time on ESPNU.
 
* If the Eagles can win three games in the tourney, they will join EWU's 2003-04 and 2014-15 squads in garnering the league's automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament. But by doing so, Eastern would have a 17-17 overall record and be just the third school since the league began in 1963-64 – and the first in 32 years -- to enter the "Big Dance" with a non-winning record
 
 
Top Performers . . .
 
* Senior Jesse Hunt had made 6-of-11 field goals and 5-of-6 free throws to finish with 18 points. He also had five rebounds and a pair of assists. He now has 33 career double-figure scoring performances in his career to go along with 17 performances with 10 or more rebounds. He has 12 double-doubles on the season and 14 in his career.
 
* Junior Mason Peatling had a double-double with a career-high 28 points and 14 rebounds, including 18 and eight, respectively, in the first half. He had eight offensive rebounds and made 11-of-15 shots from the field. His previous career high was 25 points versus Weber State on Dec. 29, 2018, in EWU's league opener. An honorable mention All-Big Sky selection a year ago, he has 30 career games scoring in double figures, with 10 rebounding in double figures. He has three double-doubles this season and nine in his career.
 
* Senior Cody Benzel continued his hot shooting by making 8-of-11 shots overall and 5-of-7 from the 3-point arc to finish with 22 points. Two games earlier versus Idaho State he made 9-of-17 shots overall, including 8-of-15 from the 3-point arc to finish with a career-high 30 points. The MSU outing was his sixth game of the season scoring in double figures, but just his second since scoring 10 at Idaho on Jan. 3. He had scored just 35 points total in the 15 games prior to his outburst versus ISU.

* Junior guard Tyler Kidd added eight points and also had a team-high four assists. He has scored in double figures 14 times, all coming in EWU's last 22 games.
 
* Sophomore Jack Perry chipped in seven points.
 
* 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 . . .
 
* Finishing at 55.2 percent for the game, EWU is now 13-1 this season when it makes at least 45 percent of its shots from the field (3-0 at 50 percent or better) and 2-16 when it doesn't. Eastern also made 16-of-21 3-point shots for 41.7 percent.
 
* Eastern had a 34-25 rebounding advantage, including a 13-8 lead in offensive boards. Eastern has out-rebounded 13 of its last 16 opponents after having advantages in just two of its first 16 games. The Eagles are 12-3 when they out-rebound opponents and 3-14 when having less or tied.
 
 
Notables . . .
 
* Eastern has won 11 of the last 15 meetings against Montana State, including an 85-81 victory earlier this season in Cheney and a 74-66 loss later in the year in Bozeman. Prior to that, EWU lost to the Bobcats 91-90 in overtime on Jan. 28, 2017, in Bozeman. Eastern has won 21 of the last 34, and is 12-3 at home in that span. Eastern, in fact, has not lost to the Bobcats at Reese Court since a 60-56 Bobcat win on Feb. 24, 2011. The Eagles are 42-46 all-time against MSU, including a 33-37 record as a member of NCAA Division I (23-12 in Cheney, 10-25 in Bozeman, 1 on neutral courts). The records include two MSU forfeits in the 1993-94 season.
 
 
More Comments from Head Coach Shantay Legans . . .
 
On Players Making Plays: "It's a player's game and our guys stepped up and made plays. It's the players that win games – you can give them game plans, but they have to make plays. These types of games are a lot of fun. You let them go – if they make mistakes you live with what they do."
 
On Montana State: "Montana State played a terrific game. They had players step up and hit some threes I couldn't believe. But that what makes March Madness so much fun – anybody can step up and play a great game. Tonight Kim Aiken was taught a lesson going against Tyler Hall – he had five fouls and all were against Tyler. Kim is going to keep that lesson with him, but I'm happy to see Tyler Hall leave the league because he's so good."
 
On Semifinals: "Southern Utah is a really good team, and they really dismantled Northern Colorado. With all the talent they have, when they play that way they are really hard to beat. They have talented players all around the perimeter, but they also have an inside presence. The last time we played they were more physical than us and keep us off-balance the entire game. We have to make sure we do everything we can to make sure we battle. They kicked our butts the second time we played and we have to make sure we battle with them this time."
 
On EWU Women's Team: "Our women play in the championship for the first time in 31 years, and they have been playing great basketball. They gave our team a lot of motivation by winning the last three games. They can be a team that plays four games and win it. I hope everybody watches and listens."