The Eagles adhere to the theory that close games will make them battle-tested come tourney time.
 
After leading by as many as 17 in the first half, the Eastern Washington University men's basketball team fell behind by six to Sacramento State in the second half before coming alive for a 77-76 victory Thursday (Feb. 20) in a Big Sky Conference game at Reese Court in Cheney, Wash.
 
Senior Mason Peatling led the Eagles with yet another big game, finishing with 28 points, 10 rebounds and six assists. He now has had 11 double-doubles on the season with eight in his last 10 games. Sophomore Kim Aiken Jr. scored 16 with four 3-pointers and six rebounds, and junior Jacob Davison chipped in 12 points and four assists.
 
Moments after Aiken hit a pair of 3-pointers to help EWU regain the lead, Peatling hit a clutch trey with two minutes left to put the Eagles up 75-71. Sac State missed five shots in a row in the last 3:15 after having made 18-of-23 (78 percent) in the half to that point, including a stretch of 10-straight.
 
"We've been in these games, and we understand how close they are going to be," said Eastern head coach Shantay Legans. "But we stuck with it. Sometimes your scouting report burns you, but luckily we have some really good basketball players. They played really tough and they did a good job towards the end of that game."
 
Eastern had a 29-27 rebounding advantage versus a Sacramento State team which had entered the game ranked second in the Big Sky and 77th nationally with a plus 3.8 per game. Eastern forged a 32-all tie in the previous meeting in Sacramento State, won by the Eagles 59-54 on Feb. 1.
 
With five games left in the league season before the Big Sky Conference Tournament, Eastern sits at 18-8 overall and 11-4 in the league. It's already the school's fifth-highest win total in 37 seasons as a member of Division I, and the sixth-most league wins in 33 seasons in the Big Sky
 
"We're up to 18 wins and we're still in second place," said Legans. "We just keep moving forward and try to keep things rolling."
 
Eastern had a huge shooting advantage in the first half when it led the entire half, going up but 15 with 4:42 left on a basket by Peatling. A 3-pointer by Davison gave EWU its biggest lead at 17, and EWU led 39-26 at halftime.
 
Led by Peatling's 14 points in the first 20 minutes, Eastern made 10 of its first 13 shots and was at 52 percent for the half. Meanwhile, Sac State sank just 5-of-21 – including a string of seven-straight misses with no field goals in a 5:13 stretch – and shot just 33 percent in the half.
 
Eastern led by 10 on a 3-pointer by Aiken with 13:32 left, and nine with 11:47 to play on a basket by redshirt freshman Casson Rouse. Then things went awry as EWU went 4:22 without a field goal. Sac State took its first lead with nine minutes to play, then expanded it to six to complete the 15-0 run and go up 62-56 with 7:39 left.
 
Aiken, though, hit back-to-back 3-pointers to give EWU back the lead at the 4:15 mark. Sac State hit a field goal with 3:18 left to pull within one, but then would miss its next five until scoring twice in the last four seconds. Meanwhile, Peatling's 3-pointer and two free throws by Davison put EWU up 77-71 with 7.4 seconds to play.
 
 
Records . . .
 
* Eastern is now 18-8 overall and 11-4 in the league, having fallen out of first place in the Big Sky Conference standings with a 92-82 loss at Montana on Feb. 6. The Eagles are one games behind the Grizzlies (10-3) and are tied with Northern Colorado (11-4) for second. That trio is followed by Northern Arizona (9-7), Montana State (8-7), Portland State (8-8), Southern Utah (7-8), Weber State (6-9) and Sacramento State (6-10). Idaho (3-12) and Idaho State (3-12) round out the current standings. Eastern had originally moved into first place in the standings when Montana lost its second-straight game, 88-81 to Portland State on Jan. 30.
 
* The Eagles were coming off an 89-81 victory at Portland State in which EWU overcame a 14-point deficit in the first half to lead by as many as 12 after intermission. Eastern dominated the glass 43-24 against the Vikings to improve to 10-0 when the Eagles out-rebound their opponent. That came a game after being out-rebounded 46-28 in a disappointing 74-71 home loss to Idaho two nights earlier – a deficit of 18 which was the worst of the year for EWU.
 
* Eastern held PSU to eight offensive rebounds after the Vikings entered the game third in NCAA Division I with an average of 14.6 per game. The plus-19 margin for EWU was tops this season versus a NCAA Division I opponent, besting the +17 EWU had versus Omaha. The previous best versus a Big Sky opponent was +9 two games earlier versus Montana State.
 
* The Hornets have lost six of their last eight games after a 4-4 start to league play. The Hornets are 13-12 overall, and just 3-9 on the road overall and 1-7 in league play. They did pick up a 63-59 road win over Idaho State in their last outing away from home prior to playing EWU.
 
* Besides its rebounding ranking, Sac State entered the game leading league and ranking fourth in NCAA Division I by allowing just 58.2 points per game, while Eastern is averaging 81.5 points per game to rank fifth in offense. The Hornets were also 80th nationally and third in the league in field goal percentage defense (.408) and 98th in NCAA Division I in 3-point field goal percentage defense (.315). They are coached by Brian Katz, who is in his 12th year at the helm at Sac State.
 
* Six-foot-8 senior Joshua Patton leads Sac State with averages of 12.6 points, 5.4 rebounds and 2.0 blocked shots per game entering action Thursday, ranking 38th nationally and leading the league in blocks. Guard Izayah Mauriohooho-Le'afa averages 9.6 points, 2.2 assists and 1.7 steals. Ethan Esposito, a 6-7 junior, averages 9.5 points and 5.0 rebounds, and 6-6 Bryce Fowler chips in 9.6 points, 4.3 rebounds and 3.0 assists. Mauriohooho-Le'afa had 23 points to pace the Hornets versus the Eagles, and Patton had 18.
 
* The previous meeting was the lowest scoring game of the season for EWU, and its previous lowest point total in a win was 71 points. But defensively, it was the fewest points EWU has allowed versus a NCAA Division I opponent this season. Eastern entered the rematch fifth in the nation in scoring (81.5 per game) while the Hornets entered fourth in defense (58.2).
 
 
What's Next . . .
 
* With Big Sky Conference teams jockeying to be in the position to receive first-round byes in the upcoming league tournament, the Eastern Washington University men's basketball team hosts Northern Arizona on Saturday (Feb. 22) in a Big Sky Conference game at Reese Court in Cheney, Wash.  Tipoff is 2:05 p.m. in a game broadcast live regionally by SWX.
 
* Now five games into the second half of the league season, seeding for the Big Sky Conference Tournament March 11-14 in Boise, Idaho, becomes an important consideration. The top five teams receive a bye to the quarterfinal round on Thursday, March 12, while the other six play on Wednesday, March 11, and must win four games to win the title and the automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament.
 
* Northern Arizona is led by first-year head coach Shane Burcur, and are 15-10 overall and 9-7 in the league after a 78-61 road win Thursday at Idaho. Cameron Shelton, a 6-2 sophomore guard, entered that game leading the Lumberjacks with an average of 14.2 points per game, and also averages 6.2 rebounds 4.3 assists and 1.3 steals per game. Six-foot-9 senior Brooks DeBisschop averages 12.1 points, 7.7 rebounds, 3.2 assists, 1.2 steals and 0.9 blocked shots per outing.
 
* Starting with the Sacramento State game, four of EWU's last six league games are at home at Reese Court, including Saturday (Feb. 22) when Northern Arizona visits. After playing at Southern Utah (Feb. 27) and Northern Colorado (Feb. 29), the Eagles host Idaho State (March 5) and Weber State (March 7) to close out the regular season. Eastern defeated five of its final six opponents in the first half of league play, with the lone loss on the road at Idaho State.''
 
 
Other Top Performances . . .
 
* Junior Jack Perry scored seven points and had a career-high eight assists in the win, and Rouse contributed six points and two steals. Eastern finished with a 29-27 rebounding advantage, giving the Eagles an 11-0 record when the out-rebounded an opponent.
 
* Eastern's shooting was consistent, finishing at 51 percent to improve to 6-1 when making at least half of its shots, and 13-1 when making at least 45 percent. Sac State also finished at 51 percent, making 67 percent in the second half after a 33-percent first half.
 
 
More Notes . . .
 
* Eastern has equaled the school's fifth-highest win total in 37 seasons as a member of Division I, with the only seasons better than 18 wins coming in 2014-15 (26), 2016-17 (22) and 2017-18 and 1985-86 (20). Eastern has also equaled the sixth-most wins in 33 seasons in the Big Sky, with the record set in 2014-15 with 14 victories. Eastern has recorded 13 and 12 wins, respectively, in the first two seasons with Legans at the helm, with an overall high of 20 wins in his rookie season in 2017-18.
 
* Since Eastern became a member of NCAA Division I in the 1983-84 season, the Eagles are now 38-15 versus Sacramento State, and the two schools did not play against each other prior to that. The Eagles have won 31 of their last 42 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 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.  Eastern has a 22-4 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.
 
* Montana is the two-time defending Big Sky Conference champion, and EWU has missed out on NCAA Tournament berths by falling to the Grizzlies in both the 2018 (82-65) and 2019 (68-62) championship games of the league tournament. Both EWU and UM are the preseason picks to win the league title in the 2019-20 season – Eastern by the coaches and Montana by the media. With a season sweep over EWU, the Grizzlies have a tiebreaker advantage over the Eagles.
 
 
More Comments from Head Coach Shantay Legans . . .
 
On Key to Win Down the Stretch: "Having good players. Mason played great, Kim hit some big shots and Jacob hit some big free throws. Mike Meadows stepped up defensively. Jacob Groves came in the first half and did a great job in the first half, and that gained him some playing time in the second half. Our guys played good, but we played poorly defensively in the second half. But when we needed to make stops and needed to make plays, they did it. When you have some good players it makes it easier out there sometimes."
 
On Sac State: "I have to give Sacramento State all the credit in the world. Their coaching staff had them ready for that second half and they came out with guns a blazing. And they hit some big shots. Sac State played a great game and had a great second half. They did everything they wanted to do. They put pressure on us and they made shots when they had to make them."