The Eagles have had easier home sweeps, but probably none as thrilling.
 
For the second-straight game the Eastern Washington University men's basketball team had a dominating performance in overtime and beat Northern Colorado 89-84 in a battle for second place in the Big Sky Conference standings at Reese Court in Cheney, Wash.
 
Eastern's big three of senior Mason Peatling, junior Jacob Davison and sophomore Kim Aiken Jr., combined for 64 of EWU's points, including yet another monster game by Peatling with 21 points and 22 rebounds – third most in school history. Flirting with a triple-double, Peatling also had seven assists and three blocked shots. Aiken led the Eagles with 23 points and Davison finished with 20.
 
The game featured nine lead changes and seven ties, with most of those coming in the second half. The Eagles used a 33-13 run to turn a 13-point first-half deficit into a seven-point advantage after intermission. The Eagles went the final 1:48 of regulation without scoring, but dominated overtime 15-10, including baskets by Aiken and Peatling – both after offensive boards by Peatling – to give EWU an 84-79 cushion with 41 seconds left.
 
Peatling was coming off a 30/11/5/5 performance against Southern Utah on Saturday (Jan. 25) in an 81-78 OT win, thus giving him 51 points, 33 rebounds, 12 assists, eight blocked shots and 16 fouls drawn in two games. The sweep helped pull Eastern to within a half-game of first place in the league standings. Eastern is now 13-6 overall and 6-2 in the Big Sky, with Montana leading the way at 7-2.
 
"We're in a fantastic league, we have fantastic coaches and there are some fantastic players who are underrated in this country," said Eastern head coach Shantay Legans. "There were so many players on that court who are really good. It was  a fun basketball game to coach and watch the guys play. There were so many emotions and a lot of stress throughout that game. But there was a lot of excitement too."

The Eagles have now won the last six meetings in Cheney versus UNC, having not lost at home to the Bears since 2013.
 
Eastern led early 12-10, then was trailing by just two at the 9:46 mark. But EWU would make just two of its next nine shots, and a subsequent 15-4 UNC run put the Bears up 37-24 with 5:21 to play.
 
But the deficit sparked EWU to an 8-0 run, including the first four off a pair of UNC turnovers. Four different Eagles scored in the run, and they pulled within 43-40 at halftime on a 3-pointer by Aiken after an offensive rebound and pass from Peatling.
 
The Eagles scored the first five points of the second half to take a 45-43 advantage, then continued their tear with a 12-4 run. A 3-pointer by Casson Rouse put EWU up 57-50 with 13:52 to play, completing EWU's 33-13 turnaround from being 13 down.
 
Davison scored EWU's last five points in regulation, but UNC knotted the game at 74 with :47 seconds left, then appeared to win on a rebound basket at the buzzer. But after officials reviewed the end of the game, it was determined a shot clock violation had occurred and put one second on the clock. Peatling collected a long pass from Aiken, but his 23-footer just missed as time expired.
 
Peatling's saved the ball after an EWU miss for his 20th rebound of the game, and that play ended up as a 3-pointer by Aiken with 1:04 to put EWU up by three. Peatling had a rebound basket with 41 seconds left that put the Eagles up 84-79.
 
 
Records . . .
 
* Eastern is now 13-6 on the season and 6-2 in the league, including its best non-conference record (7-4) since beginning the 2015-16 season with an 8-2 mark and going 9-4 in the preseason. While the Eagles are now 8-1 at home thus far, Eastern is 5-5 on the road, having registered one of its biggest victories in school history, an 87-82 home win on Nov. 26 over mid-major power Belmont in the final game for both schools in the Gotham Classic.
 
* Prior to the UNC game, Eastern pulled out an 81-78 overtime victory against Southern Utah on Jan. 25 in which the Eagles rallied from 11 points down in the second half. Senior Mason Peatling had a monster game with 30 points, 11 rebounds, five blocked shots and five assists, and hit a key 3-pointer at the end of regulation to send the game to OT. His back-to-back buckets in the extra period gave EWU the lead for good and gave him exactly 1,000 points in his Eastern career.
 
* Northern Colorado is now 12-6 overall and 5-2 in the league. Northern Colorado, which trounced Idaho 74-53 last Saturday (Jan. 25), entered the EWU game having made 10.2 3-pointers per game to rank 10th nationally and lead the league, and their 10.3 turnovers per outing were the fewest in the Big Sky and ranked seventh in the nation. Defensively, the Bears were second in the Big Sky Conference and 18th nationally by allowing just 60.8 points per outing. The Bears were also fourth in the nation and first in the league in 3-point field goal percentage defense (.275), while offensively ranking 41st in the nation and second in the Big Sky in 3-point field goal percentage (.367).
 
* Northern Colorado features the guard tandem of Jonah Radebaugh and Bodie Hume, who average more than 30 points per game between them. Radebaugh entered the EWU game with averages of 15.4 points, 6.3 rebounds, 5.8 assists and 1.4 steals per game, and the 6-foot-6 Hume entered averaging 15.3 points, 4.5 boards, 1.2 assists, 1.2 steals and 0.8 blocked shots per outing. A third guard, Trent Harris, was averaging 10.3 points with team-leading 52 3-pointers made (Hume has 51).
 
* In their victory over Idaho, the Bears sank 13-of-34 3-point attempts and had just four turnovers. Idaho was just 3-of-11 from the 3-point line against UNC, which was led by Harris with 17 points. Radebaugh, Hume and Matt Johnson also scored in double figures, and Radebaugh had a double-double with 13 assists.
 
 
What's Next . . .
 
* The Eagles go back on the road for a Big Sky Conference game on Feb. 1 at Sacramento State in a battle between an EWU team currently ranked third in NCAA Division I in offense versus a Hornets squad ranked third in defense. Entering Monday's games, Sac State was leading the league and ranked third in NCAA Division I by allowing just 55.9 points per game, while Eastern was averaging 83.1 points per game to rank third in offense. Besides ranking third in scoring defense, Sacramento State entered Monday 19th nationally and first in the league in field goal percentage defense (.383) and 20th in NCAA Division I in 3-point field goal percentage defense (.286). The Hornets are also 46th in the nation and second in the Big Sky in rebound margin at plus 5.4 per game. The Hornets are coached by Brian Katz, who is in his 12th year at the helm at Sac State. The Hornets are 8-0 at home for the first time since 1962.
 
* The Hornets fell 69-54 at Northern Arizona on Monday (Jan. 27), and are now 11-7 overall and 4-5 in the Big Sky. Northern Arizona is 11-7 overall and 5-4 in the league with a four-game winning streak. Northern Arizona recently pulled off a major road sweep with wins at Southern Utah (75-72 on Jan. 16) and at Northern Colorado (64-58 on Jan. 18), then picked up two home victories. The Eagles play the Lumberjacks in Flagstaff, Ariz., on Feb. 3 before heading to Montana for a rematch on Feb. 6.
 
* Six-foot-8 senior Joshua Patton leads Sac State with averages of 14.0 points, 5.5 rebounds and 2.4 blocked shots per game. He is 27th nationally and leads the league in blocked shots, and is also 33rd and first, respectively, in field goal percentage (.589). Ethan Esposito, a 6-7 junior, averages 10.2 points and 5.4 rebounds, and 6-6 Bryce Fowler chips in 8.7 points, 4.3 rebounds and 3.0 assists. The top guard is Izayah Mauriohooho-Le'afa, who averages 8.3 points, 2.0 assists and 1.9 steals per game.
 
* Northern Arizona is led by first-year head coach Shane Burcur. Cameron Shelton, a 6-2 sophomore guard, leads the Lumberjacks with an average of 13.2 points per game, and is also pulling down 6.3 rebounds per game. Six-foot-9 senior Brooks DeBisschop averages 10.9 points, 7.6 rebounds, 2.3 assists, 1.1 steals and 0.8 blocked shots per outing. Luke Dvdalovi, a 6-5 sophomore guard, chips in 10.8 points per game.
 
 
Other Top Performances . . .
 
* Peatling sank 9-of-22 shots from the field, Davison was 7-of-18 and Aiken was a sparking 8-of-11 with a pair of 3-pointers and 5-of-6 free throws. He also had eight rebounds and three assists, with Davison chipping in a pair of assists and three blocks. Freshman redshirt Casson Rouse came off the bench to score eight points and finish with a pair of assists, and true freshman Ellis Magnuson had six points and three dimes. Sophomore Tanner Groves added six points and a pair of rebounds as EWU won the battle of the boards 49-43.
 
* Facing an excellent team shooting the 3-point shot and defending against them, Eastern finished 7-of-17 from the 3-point stripe compared to 11-of-32 for UNC. Eastern, however, had a 50-36 advantage in points in the paint and 10-5 in points off turnovers. Eastern finished the game with 45.9 percent shooting from the field while the Bears finished at 39.7 percent. Northern Colorado made 14 of their first 25 shots in the game, thus, were just 15-of-48 (31 percent) the rest of the game.
 
 
More Notes . . .
 
* Through games of Jan. 26, Eastern was ranked third in NCAA Division I in scoring with an average of 83.1 points per game, with Gonzaga leading at 89.0 per game. The Eagles also ranked sixth in assists (17.7 per game), 20th in assist-to-turnover ratio (+1.33 per game), 42nd in field goal percentage (.466) and 48th in steals (8.1). The Eagles lead the Big Sky in all of those categories, and are averaging 9.3 made 3-point field goals per game to rank 32nd nationally and second in the Big Sky (Northern Colorado averages 10.2). Individually, sophomore Kim Aiken Jr. was fourth in NCAA Division I in defensive rebounds per game (8.7) and 13th in rebounding overall (10.4). He leads the Big Sky in both categories, and is also 24th in the nation with nine double-doubles. Junior Jacob Davison was 90th nationally and fourth in the Big Sky in scoring (17.5) and he and Aiken were  second in the league and 50th in the nation in steals (2.00). True freshman Ellis Magnuson was 32nd in the nation in assists (5.7 to rank second in the Big Sky) and is 39th in assist-to-turnover ratio (+2.37 per game to rank second in the league). Davison, Aiken and Mason Peatling all rank in the top 11 in the Big Sky in scoring, with Peatling averaging 15.8 (seventh) and Aiken at 14.9 (11th).
 
* The Eagles are 14-12 all-time versus UNC (10-3 in Cheney, 4-9 in Greeley), with the first meeting taking place on Dec. 20, 1971, when Eastern beat the Bears 76-68 in Greeley, Colo. Since then, all of the meetings have been with EWU as a member of NCAA Division I (since 1983-84), starting in the 2006-07 season when the Bears became a Big Sky Conference member. The Eagles have won the last six times the squads have met in Cheney dating back to an 88-80 Bear win in overtime on Feb. 28, 2013. Eastern has won eight of the last 11 overall since that loss, including a recent stretch of five victories in the last seven meetings.
 
 
More Comments from Head Coach Shantay Legans . . .
 
On Mason Peatling: "He's doing a man's work – it's tough out there getting double-teamed and tripled-teamed. He's making plays for his teammates and he's getting yelled at by his crazy coach to make layups, and he still has 30 points. He listens and handles the emotions of the game. That's what a senior leader does for you, and he's been like that since he's gotten here. He's been even keel, but he's excited when other players make plays and when he makes plays. He's showing our younger players what it means to be an Eagle, play for this university and how important everything is."
 
On Getting Ball Inside Versus UNC: "We usually shoot a lot of three pointers, but we knew we wanted to get the ball to the basket. Bobby Suarez had a good scout and we rolled with some of the ideas he had. Our staff did an amazing job of getting these players ready individually. Our coaching staff works really had and the players really pick-up game plans well. We have smart players and we have a lot of great dudes to coach and to coach with."
 
On Defense Versus UNC: "They are one of the best offensive teams in the conference, but we got stops when we needed them. They shot well early and had a run in the second half, but our guys buckled down and they defended well. We get the moniker of being 'soft' because of the way we play up-and-down. We don't grind it out like a lot of teams, but these last two games were tough and our players played tough."
 
On Love of Basketball:  "You have to love basketball. It's something that brings you to so many highs and so many lows, but it's great to be able to do it with people you love and like to be around. This is a great community and we are doing it for a great university. It's so much fun and I can't get enough basketball right now. I'll go home and watch this game a couple of times and then start getting ready for Sac State."