The Eagles were shorthanded, but the Groves brothers were up to the task Saturday (Nov. 28) as Eastern Washington University nearly upset Washington State before falling 71-68 at Friel Court in Pullman, Wash.
 
The Eagles led for more than 33 minutes, including a fast start that included a 16-3 lead in the opening six minutes. The Eagles led by as many as six in the second half, but the Cougars used a 13-5 run to take the lead for good. Isaac Bonton iced the win with a pair of free throws with two seconds remaining, coming four seconds after an offensive foul was called on Eastern's Kim Aiken Jr.

Junior Tanner Groves scored a career-high 17 points on 7-of-12 shooting, and also had nine rebounds and three assists. He equaled the career high he had as a sophomore last season with 17 points.
 
His brother, sophomore Jacob Groves, also had a career high with 16 points, eclipsing his previous high of eight. He sank 6-of-16 shots in the first start of his career, and had eight rebounds. Both Groves brothers are graduates of Shadle Park High School in Spokane, Wash.
 
Aiken, a preseason All-Big Sky selection, finished with 14 points and eight rebounds, as EWU played just six of the eight players the Eagles had available. Senior Jacob Davison, another preseason All-Big Sky pick, finished with 12 points and three assists, but played just 22 minutes because of foul trouble.
 
Ellis Magnuson, who started all 31 Eagles games as a freshman last season, did not play. The next game on EWU's recently-revised schedule is Dec. 9 at UNLV, but Eastern is trying to add a non-conference opponent this week after the cancellation of EWU's scheduled home opener on Nov. 30.
 
Eastern led 16-3 early and 39-33 at halftime as Tanner Groves scored 12 points in the opening 20 minutes. The Cougars took their first lead of the game at 46-45 in the second half, but EWU used a 9-2 run to regain a six-point advantage. The Groves brothers scored all nine points in the run, including five by Tanner, who had a layup with 11:31 remaining that put EWU up 54-48.
 
But the Cougars followed with their 13-5 run, and twice held four-point leads in the final 1:08. Davison scored Eastern's last five points in the final minute as the upset bid came up just short.
 
The Eagles out-shot WSU 41 percent to 40 percent, but EWU sank just 37 percent of its shots in the second half.
 
The loss for the defending Big Sky Conference champions against the Cougars of the Pac-12 Conference nearly snapped a five-game losing streak to Washington State dating back to 1997. Eastern snapped a 21-game losing streak versus the Pac-12 with a 67-61 victory at Stanford on Nov. 14, 2017.