There was a little angst involved to get the game played, but the Eastern Washington University men's basketball team Northern Arizona Saturday (Dec. 19) at the Rolle Activity Center on the NAU campus in the Big Sky Conference opener for both schools.
 
Having had the previous night's game canceled because of the Covid-19 pandemic, Eastern used a pair of hot stretches in the first half and second half en route to its second win of the season. Kim Aiken Jr. hit five 3-pointers to finish with a season-high 19 points, and Tanner Groves had a double-double with career highs of 26 points and 13 rebounds.
 
The Eagles out-scored the Lumberjacks 32-14 at one point in the first half, and had a 22-11 run after intermission to help open a 21-point lead and put the game away. Eastern led by as many as 22 points and no less than 15 the rest of the way, and beat NAU for the 16th time in the last 19 meetings.
 
"Sitting in the hotel and not doing anything for 50 hours and then coming out and playing that way was amazing," said Eastern head coach Shantay Legans. "For this group of players it shows mental toughness. They were really excited to play this game. I couldn't be happier to watch them get out and play. Everybody on the roster played and they deserved it. I was proud of their effort today for what they had to go through. We tried to make it as normal as possible, but it's not normal."
 
Eastern had a dominating 42-26 rebounding advantage and led 42-24 in points in the paint. Eastern shot a season-best 59 percent from the field while holding NAU to 37 percent shooting.
 
"We got punched in the mouth early because they were playing really good basketball," said Legans. "But our team battled through it and made all the right plays and took the easy baskets. When you shoot that well on the road, you have to be proud. Our players defended well and held them to 37 percent."
 
 
Records
 
* The Eagles are 2-4, having defeated The College of Idaho 80-56 on Dec. 11 for their first victory of the season. Eastern had suffered a trio of losses by a total of just 11 points after leading at halftime and with 10 minutes left in each. Eastern was coming off a 91-52 loss on Dec. 15 at Saint Mary's, which entered the game ranked fourth in the CollegeInsider.com top 25 poll of mid-major teams. 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.
 
* The Lumberjacks are currently 0-4, having lost 91-52 at Colorado State on Dec. 14. Like EWU, Northern Arizona has had several games canceled or postponed, and the other games it has played came on Dec. 7 at Arizona (96-53 loss) and home versus UC Riverside on Dec. 10 (74-50 loss). Eastern fell at Arizona on Dec. 5 by a 70-67 score.
 
* Northern Arizona was 16-14 overall and 10-10 (tie for fifth) in the Big Sky last season under first-year head coach Shane Burcar.
 
 
Top EWU Performers
 
Junior Tanner Groves had the fourth double-double of his career, hitting 9-of-13 field goals and 8-of-9 free throws to finish with 26 points. That eclipsed his previous high of 17 on three occasions, including twice this season. His 13 boards equaled the 13 he had earlier this season at Oregon, and he also had three assists.
Junior Kim Aiken Jr., a preseason All-Big Sky selection, finished with a season-high 19 points, coming just seven from his career high of 26. He also had nine rebounds, coming one from his first double-double of the season. Eastern is 12-4 in the 16 career games he's had a double-double. He also added a pair of blocked shots and two assists, and sank 6-of-8 field goals, 5-of-7 free throws and 2-of-3 free throws.
Senior Jacob Davison, the preseason MVP in the Big Sky Conference, chipped in eight points.
Sophomore Tyler Robertson scored six points.
Sophomore Jacob Groves, the younger brother of junior Tanner Groves, added seven points for EWU. Both Groves brothers are graduates of Shadle Park High School in Spokane, Wash.
Senior Jack Perry scored six points, hitting both 3-pointers he attempted.
Sophomore Ellis Magnuson hit a 3-pointer and had a season-high five assists.
 
 
Game Details & Turning Point
 
The Eagles fell behind 8-0, but woke up after that. Eastern outscored NAU 32-14 to eventually take a 10-point lead at 32-22. The Eagles didn't score in the final two minutes and led at halftime 32-28, with Groves scoring the team's final 11 points in the half and 12 total.
 
Eastern opened the second half on a tear as well, and used an 8-2 run to regain a 10-point lead. Eastern then hit four 3-pointers, including a trio by Aiken, to open a 54-39 advantage with 12:15 to play.
 
Eastern continued to pour it on, and went up by 21 after seven free throws by Groves. Eastern led by as many as 22 and no fewer than 15 the rest of the way.
 
 
Series Notes
 
* Eastern has now won 16 of the last 19 versus Northern Arizona and has a seven-game winning streak, moving ahead in the all-time series versus NAU 38-37 (13-24 in Flagstaff, 23-12 in Cheney, 2-1 neutral). Eastern has won the last nine meetings in Cheney dating back to a 73-69 loss on Jan. 15, 2010. The Eagles have won four of the last five in Flagstaff, and haven't lost there since March 4, 2017, in a 76-61 loss. The only meeting before Eastern became a member of NCAA Division I was an 84-80 NAU victory on Dec. 20, 1969, in Fresno, Calif. Eastern is 3-1 in the Big Sky Conference Tournament versus NAU, winning 74-52 in the 2016 first round; 71-59 in the 2004 championship game in Cheney; and 58-53 in the 2001 semifinals. Eastern also fell 82-65 in the 2000 semifinals in Missoula.
 
 
More Game Notes
 
* An inconclusive test result within Eastern's program resulted in the cancellation of Friday's first game of the scheduled doubleheader, but the long-awaited PCR test result was received in time for EWU to play Saturday. Originally, the two teams were going to play a games on back-to-back games which would have started at 11:05 a.m. Pacific time.
 
* While Eastern was picked to finish No. 1 in the league in both the preseason coaches and media polls, the Lumberjacks were picked to finish eighth in both. The game feature three of the six players selected to the Big Sky Conference preseason team – Eastern's Jacob Davison and Kim Aiken Jr., as well as NAU's Cameron Shelton.
 
 
On the Horizon
 
* The Eagles will open their Big Sky home schedule on Dec. 31 versus Portland State and host the Vikings again two days later. The New Year's Eve game will tip off at 6:05 p.m. and be televised live by SWX TV in the Eastern Washington region. The game on Jan. 2 will be played at 12:05 p.m.
 
* 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.
 
* The Vikings, coached by Barret Peery in his fourth season at the helm, is 1-3 after losing their league opener versus Weber State on Dec. 18 by a 94-66 score. The two teams play again on Sunday (Dec. 20). A year ago, the Vikings were 18-14 overall and 12-18 in the league to finish fourth. In this year's preseason polls, PSU was picked to finish fourth by the coaches and seventh by the media.
 
* Newcomers dot the roster for PSU, which is led by 6-5 senior guard James Scott. Entering the weekend series with Weber State, he had averages of 11.3 points, 6.0 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game. The Vikings have a pair of 6-10 graduate students in Amari McCray and Khalid Thomas, and they average 9.7 and 8.7 points, respectively, and 6.3 and 5.3 rebounds. Paris Dawson, a 6-2 freshman guard, has averages of 9.7 points and 1.3 assists.
 
* Since Eastern became a member of NCAA Division I in the 1983-84 season, the Eagles are now 26-24 versus Portland State. All of the meetings have come since the 1996-97 school year when PSU joined the Big Sky Conference, and Eastern is 17-8 in Cheney and 8-15 against PSU in Portland (1-1 on neutral courts) since then. The overall series is now knotted at 27 apiece. Eastern is 2-1 against PSU in the Big Sky Tournament, winning 78-72 in the quarterfinals in 2018 in Reno, 81-75 in the 2006 quarterfinals in Cheney and losing 80-74 in the 1999 quarterfinals in Ogden, Utah.
 
 
More Comments from Head Coach Shantay Legans
 
On Tanner Groves: "Tanner is a stud and our players did a great job looking for him. He scored 26 but didn't shoot any threes today, and he loves to shoot threes. He did a great job of getting the ball and making himself available. He's got a lot more games like that in him. I saw him go against (2019-20 Big Sky MVP) Mason Peatling in practices and we saw the flashes of what he is capable of. He's playing really, really good basketball and is very confident. You love to see that, especially out of a player with so much character, how hard he plays, how much he loves his teammates and how much he gives his team every game."
 
On Kim Aiken Jr.: "It was great to see his scoring, but it was great to see him rebound and get offensive boards. It's good to see him shoot with confidence, and play upbeat and happy. And when he's defending like he did today, I think he's the best defender in the league. He did a great job tonight. He got seven 3-point attempts and made five – that's a big-time night for him."