The best way to beat a defensive-minded team is with defense.
 
A 14-0 run in the second half and defense down the stretch were the keys as the toughest stretch of the Big Sky Conference season began with a 59-54 victory for the Eastern Washington University men's basketball team over Sacramento State Saturday (Feb. 1) at The Nest in Sacramento, Calif.
 
Eastern's defense held the Hornets to 4-of-18 shooting in the final 13 1/2 minutes of the game, and the 14-0 run turned an eight point deficit into a six-point lead. Eastern never relinquished the lead after that as it maintained first place in the Big Sky standings with a 7-2 record. The Eagles handed the Hornets their first home loss of the season as EWU won for the sixth time in 11 road games this season, including four of five in Big Sky play.
 
Junior Jacob Davison led the Eagles with 23 points, and was joined in double figures by senior Mason Peatling with 12 and freshman redshirt Casson Rouse with 13. Sophomore Kim Aiken Jr. had nine rebounds and Peatling added seven to help EWU nearly out-rebound an opponent for only the eighth time this season. Eastern entered the game 7-0 when it has more rebounds than its opponent.
 
"Our team played great defense and rebounded – they did exactly what they needed to do," said Eastern head coach Shantay Legans. "In crunch time they made big shots and Mason made some big passes and had another big assist game. They did a good job of trying to stop him, but Jacob had a great game tonight."
 
It was the lowest scoring game of the season for EWU, and its previous lowest point total in a win was 71 points. Defensively, it was the fewest points EWU has allowed versus a NCAA Division I opponent this season.
 
Eastern now plays Monday (Feb. 3) at Northern Arizona, a team that beat the Hornets 69-54 at NAU on Jan. 27 and has won five-straight games just like the Eagles.
 
"Everybody was chipping in and helping out and that's the kind of effort you have to have," added Legans. "Winning the first game on this road trip is big."
 
Eastern also made 14-of-15 free throws and earned a 32-all tie on the boards against a team ranked second in the league and the top 60 nationally in rebound margin. It was a battle of an EWU team ranked second in NCAA Division I in offense versus a Hornets squad ranked third in defense, and EWU finished at 37 percent shooting compared to 40 percent for the Hornets.
 
Sac State entered the game leading league and ranking third in NCAA Division I by allowing just 56.6 points per game, while Eastern was averaging 83.4 points per game to rank second in offense. Compounding the difficulty factor for the Eagles is that EWU was playing a Hornets team 8-0 at home for the first time since 1962.
 
Peatling hit a 3-pointer to open the game for EWU, but the Eagles would miss their next eight shots and go seven minutes without a field goal. Eastern got untracked with a 9-0 run, with Davison scoring five of EWU's points in the run. A layin by Tanner Groves with 9:19 left in the half on a pass from Aiken gave EWU a 19-11 lead.
 
But Sac State followed with an 8-0 run, and eventually led 28-27 at halftime as EWU made just two field goals in the last seven minutes. The Eagles made just 33 percent of their shots in the first half and had seven turnovers, while the Hornets made 42 percent and had eight miscues in the first 20 minutes.
 
The Eagles fell behind by eight in the second half, but then hit five-straight shots during a game-changing 14-0 run. Five different Eagles scored in the run, including five by Davison, whose jumper put EWU up 48-42 with 8:06 left. During that stretch, EWU held Sac State scoreless for 4:27 and without a field goal for 7:47.
 
Eastern took the lead for good with 9:58 left on a 3-pointer by Jack Perry. Davison hit key baskets with 5:16 and 15 seconds left, the latter basket giving EWU a 57-53 lead. Rouse clinched the win with two free throws with four ticks remaining.
 
 
Records . . .
 
* Eastern is now 14-6 on the season and 7-2 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 6-5 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.
 
* Eastern moved into first place in the standings when Montana lost its second-straight game, 88-81 to Portland State on Jan. 30. The Eagles (7-2) are a half-game ahead of the Grizzlies (8-3), who beat Montana State 78-64 on Thursday night. Northern Colorado (7-3) is also a half-game behind, and Northern Arizona and Southern Utah are both 6-4.
 
* Eastern was coming off a home sweep in which EWU rallied from double-digit deficits to win both games in overtime. Eastern was down by 11 in the second half versus Southern Utah on Jan. 25 before prevailing 81-78. Two days later, Eastern was down by 13 in the first half against Northern Colorado before winning 89-84.
 
* The Hornets fell 69-54 at Northern Arizona on Jan. 27, and are now 11-8 overall and 4-6 in the Big Sky. Besides ranking third in scoring defense, Sacramento State is 31st nationally and second in the league in field goal percentage defense (.389) and 39th in NCAA Division I in 3-point field goal percentage defense (.297). The Hornets are also 59th 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.
 
* Six-foot-8 senior Joshua Patton entered the EWU game leading Sac State with averages of 13.7 points, 5.5 rebounds and 2.2 blocked shots per game. He ranked 32nd nationally and leads the league in blocked shots, and is also 32nd and first, respectively, in field goal percentage (.586). Ethan Esposito, a 6-7 junior, averages 10.2 points and 5.2 rebounds, and 6-6 Bryce Fowler chips in 8.7 points, 4.1 rebounds and 3.0 assists. The top guard is Izayah Mauriohooho-Le'afa, who averages 8.3 points, 2.1 assists and 2.1 steals per game.
 
 
What's Next . . .
 
* The game versus the Hornets was the start of a three-game road stretch for Eastern, and now the Eagles play the red-hot Lumberjacks in Flagstaff, Ariz., on Feb. 3 before heading to Montana for a rematch on Feb. 6. Eastern will close a stretch of four games from Feb. 1 to Feb. 8 with a home game versus Montana State.
 
* Northern Arizona is now 12-7 overall and 6-4 in the league with a five-game winning streak after a 77-72 victory over Idaho on Saturday (Feb. 1). 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. Included was a 69-54 victory over Sac State on Jan. 27.
 
* 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 13.7 points per game after scoring 29 versus the Vandals, and is also pulling down 6.1 rebounds per game. Six-foot-9 senior Brooks DeBisschop averages 11.2 points, 7.8 rebounds, 2.7 assists, 1.1 steals and 0.8 blocked shots per outing. Luke Avdalovic, a 6-5 sophomore guard, chips in 10.9 points per game.
 
 
Other Top Performances . . .
 
* Davison had his eighth performance of the season with at least 20 points, and 17th in his career. He now has 935 career points in his quest to join Mason Peatling in EWU's 1,000-point club, which now totals 22 members. Davison also had three assists and four rebounds, and Peatling had five assists, two steals and two blocked shots.
 
* Both teams had nine offensive rebounds, but the Eagles had a commanding 15-3 lead in second-chance points. Eastern had one more turnover than the Hornets (12-11), but had a 12-6 advantage in points off turnovers.
 
 
More Notes . . .
 
* Since Eastern became a member of NCAA Division I in the 1983-84 season, the Eagles are now 37-15 versus Sacramento State, and the two schools did not play against each other prior to that. Eastern has won the last four times the two teams have played in Sacramento State, dating back to a 90-77 loss there on Jan. 17, 2015.  The Eagles have won 30 of their last 41 games against the Hornets, but a nine-game winning streak overall and five at home came to an end with a 59-56 home loss on Feb. 28, 2019. Prior to that setback, EWU hadn't lost in the series since falling in Sacramento by a 90-77 score on Jan. 17, 2015, and had not lost at home since a 60-53 defeat on Jan. 12, 2013. Eastern has a 21-4 record versus Sacramento State in Cheney, are 14-11 in Sacramento and 2-0 on a neutral court. Eastern is 2-0 versus Sac State in the Big Sky Conference Tournament, winning 89-70 in the 2017 quarterfinals in Reno, Nevada, and 91-83 in the 2015 quarterfinals in Missoula. En route to the 2015 title, the Eagles made 16-of-17 shots from the field versus the Hornets, including seven of its last eight in the first half and their first nine of the second half.
 
* Through games of Jan. 30, Eastern is ranked second in NCAA Division I in scoring with an average of 83.4 points per game, with Gonzaga leading at 88.9 per game. The Eagles also rank fifth in assists (17.8 per game) and 12th in assist-to-turnover ratio (+1.36 per game) to lead the league, and are 43rd in field goal percentage (.465), 61st in steals (7.8) and 34th in 3-point field goals per game (9.2) to rank second in the Big Sky. Individually, sophomore Kim Aiken Jr. is fourth in NCAA Division I in defensive rebounds per game (8.7) and 20th in rebounding overall (10.3). He leads the Big Sky in both categories, and is also 26th in the nation with nine double-doubles. Senior Mason Peatling has worked his way up to 81st in rebounding overall (8.4 to rank second in the league behind Aiken) and 63rd in offensive rebounds per game (second). Junior Jacob Davison is 83rd nationally and fifth in the Big Sky in scoring (17.6) and he and Aiken are second in the league and 64th in the nation in steals (1.89). True freshman Ellis Magnuson is 37th in the nation in assists (5.5 to rank second in the Big Sky) and is 42nd in assist-to-turnover ratio (+2.33 per game to rank first in the league). Davison, Aiken and Mason Peatling all rank in the top nine in the Big Sky in scoring, with Peatling averaging 16.1 (seventh) and Aiken at 15.4 (ninth).
 
* En route to earning Big Sky Conference Player of the Week honors for the second time this season, senior Mason Peatling averaged 25.6 points, 16.5 rebounds, 6.0 assists and 4.0 blocked shots per game in a home sweep versus Southern Utah (Jan. 25) and Northern Colorado (Jan. 27). He sank 52.6 percent of his field goal attempts (20-of-38) and 71.4 percent of his free throws (10-of-14) as EWU improved to 6-2 in the Big Sky to pull a half-game from 7-2 Montana in the league standings.
 
 
More Comments from Head Coach Shantay Legans . . .
 
On Victory and Comeback: "We keep going into games battling as much as we can and have done a great job. Whoever taught our players how to shoot free throws is a pretty good coach. We were 14-of-15 on the road, and that's the best we've had all year. I'm proud of our team with the way we played. We played tough and played through the physical, physical play of Sac State. We battled through the adversity of being down by eight to a team like that. They hold the ball so long on every possession, so it seems like your down by twice that many."
 
On Coming From Behind in Third-Straight Game: "We have to shake some bad habits, and that's one of them. But if we are going to win them we are going to win them. We played their game and we beat them at their game tonight. We played at their speed and their style, and we defended like they defended. We want to play better the next time, but we'll take the win on the road."
 
On Holding Sac State to 4-of-18 Shooting Down the Stretch: "That's the key. Our team has done that the last couple of games. They buckle down and plays great defense. They understand scouting report and who they are guarding. They may have missed on defensive rebound block out, but they toughened up and made plays when they needed to."