Another one got away.
 
The Eastern Washington University men's basketball team led for 28 1/2 minutes, but didn't get the finish it needed en route to a 80-75 loss against Saint Mary's – the nation's No. 4 mid-major team -- Tuesday (Dec. 15) at UCU Pavilion in Moraga, Calif.
 
Sophomore Tyler Robertson and junior Tanner Groves led a quartet of players in double figures with a career-high 17 each for the Eagles, but Saint Mary's Tommy Kuhse was too much to overcome. He had a career-high 34 points to go along with six assists and seven rebounds.
 
Eastern rallied late with a 5-0 run to cut the lead to two, but Kuhse and hit the dagger with a driving layin with 1:09 left. Eastern missed its last four shots in the final 1:38.
 
"We have to come out and make sure we make winning plays and rebound," said Eastern head coach Shantay Legans. "We didn't do that in the second half and that's the story of the year so far. We have to get better game-by-game."
 
The Gaels, who have now won 49 of their previous 54 non-conference home games, are now 5-0 at home this season. The game featured 11 lead changes and eight ties – both season highs for EWU -- until the Gaels took command with 9-0 run late in the game.
 
Both teams shot the ball well, with EWU finishing at a season-best 45.2 percent and the Gaels at 48.4 percent. The only difference in the game in favor of the Gaels was a 38-33 rebounding advantage for Saint Mary's as both teams had seven 3-pointers and eight turnovers. Eastern had an 18-8 advantage in second-chance points – highs in both categories for EWU – thanks to eight offensive boards.
 
The game started a three-game road trip for Eastern, which begins its league season with a doubleheader at Northern Arizona on Nov. 18 and 19.
 
"Our team will get there," added Legans. "We have a great bunch of guys and smart players. We just have to finish these games off at the end."
 
 
Records
 
* The Eagles are 1-4, having defeated The College of Idaho 80-56 on Dec. 11 for their lone victory. Previously, Eastern fell at Oregon 69-52 on Dec. 7, just two days after a heart-breaking 70-67 loss at Arizona. Eastern opened the season with a 71-68 loss at Washington State on Nov. 28.
 
* Saint Mary's now has a seven-game winning streak and is now 7-1. In their first seven games, the Gaels out-scored opponents by an average of 11.4 points per game, while out-rebounding them by 7.5 per game and out-shooting them 47.1 percent to 40.8 percent.
 
* In the Dec. 14 CollegeInsider.com top 25 poll of mid-major collegiate basketball teams in the nation, the Gaels were ranked fourth. Saint Mary's only ranks behind No. 1 Gonzaga, Loyola Chicago and Furman. The Eagles were ranked 24th on Dec. 7 and have been as high as 16th this season.
 
 
Top EWU Performers
 
Sophomore Tyler Robertson had his fourth double-figure scoring performance in the four games he's played this season, finishing with a career-high 17. He sank 5-of-8 shots from the field, including 5-of-7 from the 3-point stripe. He eclipsed his previous high of 14 at Arizona on Dec. 5, and his high last season as a freshman was nine. His previous high for 3-pointers made was three.
Junior Tanner Groves also scored 17 to equal his career high, sinking 7-of-10 shots from the field and 3-of-4 free throws. He also had seven rebounds and a pair of blocked shots as he came three boards from his second-straight double-double and fourth of his career. He equaled his high of 17 earlier this season at Washington State and a year ago versus Multnomah.
Senior Jacob Davison, the preseason MVP in the Big Sky Conference, had 15 points, including 11 in the first half.
Junior Kim Aiken Jr., a preseason All-Big Sky selection, scored 12 points and finished with eight rebounds and three assists.
Sophomore Casson Rouse chipped in six points and four rebounds.
 
 
Game Details & Turning Point
 
Davison had a driving lay-in, 3-pointer and steal in the opening minute as EWU took an early 5-0 lead. Eastern also had a 5-0 run later in the half to open its biggest lead of the half at 34-28 with 1:49 to play.
 
Neither team had scoring runs of more than five points before intermission, as Saint Mary's also had a pair and trailed at intermission 40-37. There were eight ties and seven lead changes in the first half, and Eastern led for 15:02 compared to 2:24 for the Gaels. The game was tied the other 2:34.
 
Davison scored 11 points and Robertson scored eight in the opening 20 minutes, and the Eagles sank 46 percent of their shots from the field. Saint Mary's sank 47 percent.
 
Robertson hit a 3-pointer to start the second half, then hit another at the 16:41 mark to give EWU its largest lead at 50-41. Less than two minutes later he hit another with 14:49 left to maintain the nine-point lead at 55-46.
 
The Gaels, however, had a pair of 5-0 runs to help knot the score at 63 with 7:25 to play. Eastern took its last two leads of the game on free throws, including a pair by Aiken with 6:35 left.
 
Saint Mary's followed with the biggest run of the game for either team – nine points. Eastern went 3:27 without a field goal – but had only one shot in that span – as Saint Mary's took its biggest lead of the night at 72-66 with 5:01 left.
 
The Gaels led 77-70 with 3:17 left before EWU scored the next five points to pull within two with 1:37 left. But a drive and basket by Kuhse with 1:09 remaining was the dagger, as Eastern missed its last four shots in the final 1:38.
 
 
Series Notes
 
* The Eagles and Gaels played for the first time on Dec. 19, 1988, and since then Saint Mary's has won seven of the nine meetings and now has a five-game winning streak. Eastern is 2-0 at home and 0-7 on the road, and hasn't won in the series since Nov. 26, 2002, in an 88-80 victory at Reese Court. Since moving to NCAA Division I, Eastern is 23-65 all-time versus current members of the WCC (70-115 all-time).
 
 
More Game Notes
 
 
* Saint Mary's is a member of the West Coast Conference and a chief rival of EWU's neighbor Gonzaga through the years. Randy Bennett is in his 20th season at the helm, and entered Tuesday's game with a 448-183 career record. His squad was 26-8 a year ago and finished 11-5 in the WCC.
 
* The Gaels have one of collegiate basketball's top playmakers in the country in 6-foot-2 guard Tommy Kuhse, who entered the game averaging 13.0 points, 6.4 assists and 3.4 rebounds per game.
 
* In its first three games, EWU out-scored opponents 114-107 in the first half, but was out-scored by 30 in the second half (103-73) and lost all three. Eastern made 47.6 percent (40-of-84) of its shots from the field in the first half, including 18-of-42 3-pointers for 42.9 percent. But in the second half, those percentages dipped to 29.5 percent (26-of-88) overall and 13.3 percent (6-of-45) from the arc. Ironically, in each those three games they made just 2-of-15 3-pointers in the second half.
 
* In its fourth game, Eastern led by 20 at halftime versus The College of Idaho after out-shooting the Coyotes 50 percent to 25 percent in the first half. In the second half, EWU had a 37-33 scoring edge, but was out-shot 38 percent to 34 percent. The Eagles made 6-of-16 (38 percent) 3-pointers in the first half and 4-of-19 (21 percent) in the second half.
 
 
On the Horizon
 
* Following Tuesday's game, the Eagles are scheduled to play their Big Sky Conference openers on the road at Northern Arizona on back-to-back days on Dec. 18 and 19 in Flagstaff, Ariz. Both of those games will begin at 11:05 a.m. Pacific time, and were moved from the previous dates of Dec. 3 and 5.
 
* The Lumberjacks are currently 0-2 and play at Colorado State on Dec. 14 prior to facing the Eagles. Northern Arizona has had several games canceled or postponed, and the lone games it has played came on Dec. 7 at Arizona (96-53 loss) and home versus UC Riverside on Dec. 10 (74-50 loss).
 
* The Eagles will open their Big Sky home schedule on Dec. 31 versus Portland State and host the Vikings again two days later. At this time, no spectators will be permitted to attend home basketball games due to institutional, regional, and state guidelines. Eastern home games are available via PlutoTV channel 1053 and via https://bigskyconf.com/watchbigsky. Live statistics from all Eastern home games are available via http://ewustats.com.
 
 
More Comments from Head Coach Shantay Legans
 
On Kuhse: "You have to give him a lot of credit – he's a really good player. We tried to keep him out of the paint, but they set multiple ball screens and got him going downhill. He'll be an All-WCC player, but we just have to make adjustments and do a better job to keep him from scoring 34 against us."
 
On Plays Down the Stretch: "We were able to get the ball where we wanted to. But we shot ourselves in the foot with turnovers, missed crucial free throws and an intentional foul. Some plays you need to make and be smart about, but we didn't make those tonight."
 
On Robertson and Tanner Groves: "We have to figure out a way to get those players the ball a lot more, especially with them playing that way. Tanner is showing he's one of the best big man in the country. He went against some big guys in the Pac-12 and did well against a good big man tonight. We have to make we're making the right plays and the right reads so he can get touches."