The Big Three scored their points and got their rebounds, but it was junior Jack Perry and redshirt freshman Michael Meadows who made the key contributions.
 
Perry hit five 3-pointers in the second half and Meadows hit a pair of key baskets in the first half as the Eastern Washington University men's basketball team beat red-hot Northern Arizona 77-66 Monday (Feb. 3) in Flagstaff, Ariz., to extend EWU's winning streak to six games and end NAU's at five.
 
With Eastern sinking 14 3-pointers – one from its high this season -- the win helped Eastern maintain first place in the Big Sky men's basketball standings. In the midst of a stretch of three road games in six nights, the Eagles head to Montana for a rematch on Feb. 6 of a 90-63 loss earlier this season in Cheney.
 
Perry finished with a season-high 15 points for the Eagles – all in the second half and three from his career high of 18.
 
"He's played in a lot of games and made a lot of big shots," said Eastern head coach Shantay Legans. "When you have guys like him doing that it makes the game that much easier. The team trusts each other and they are going to pass the ball to the player who has the best shot. Jack's night was tonight to hit some big shots."
 
Junior Jacob Davison had 17 points, and senior Mason Peatling had his fourth double-double in the last five games with 14 points and 14 rebounds. Sophomore Kim Aiken Jr. also had a double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds. Meadows came off the bench to score five first-half points in four minutes of playing time.
 
"Other players hit big shots, and Mason and Kim were doing their thing on the glass," added Legans. "And Mike Meadows came in quietly at the end of that first half, but he really gave us a spark. He gave us toughness, made shots and defended really well. That's how you earn playing time. You always have to be working and ready to go – and he was ready. Our team just stepped up tonight and played a great game."
 
Eastern's 14 3-pointers equaled its second-most behind the 15 they hit at High Point on Nov. 23. Eastern also had 14 versus Portland Bible College on Nov. 5. The Eagles finished at 14-of-37 in the game after an 8-of-18 performance in the second half. Eastern led by four after the first 20 minutes -- its first halftime lead in the last four games – and led by as many as 15 in the second half.
 
Eastern held the Lumberjacks to 41 percent shooting from the field, including only 6-of-17 from the 3-point stripe. Eastern also had a 38-34 rebounding edge and is now 8-0 when it has an advantage on the boards. Eastern had 12 offensive rebounds and for the second-straight game had 15 second-chance points.
 
The Eagles trailed must of the first half before using a 12-1 run to open a 29-23 lead with 3:57 to play. Five different players scored in the run, including 3-pointers by Davison and freshman redshirt Casson Rouse. The Eagles held the Lumberjacks without a field goal for 5:15.
 
Meadows, who had played just nine minutes in three league games entering the NAU game, hit a 3-pointer and another jumper in the last three minutes to give EWU its largest lead of the half at nine. Eastern led 34-30 at halftime.
 
Perry, who was 0-of-4 in the first half from the 3-point line, got hot early in the second half, and his trey at the 16:50 mark gave EWU its biggest lead of the night at 13 points. He, Rouse and Davison then hit triples to give EWU its biggest lead of the half at 59-44 with 10:16 to play.
 
Eastern led by no less than eight the rest of the way.
 
 
Records . . .
 
* Eastern is now 15-6 on the season and 8-2 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 (8-2) are a half-game ahead of the Grizzlies (8-3), who beat Montana State 78-64 on Thursday night in their last game. Northern Colorado (7-3) is now a game behind EWU, and Southern Utah is 6-4.
 
* Northern Arizona is now 12-8 overall and 6-5 in the league, having extended its winning streak to five games after a 77-72 victory over Idaho on Saturday (Feb. 1). The Lumberjacks 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. The Lumberjacks are 8-2 at home overall and 4-1 in conference play.
 
* 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.
 
 
What's Next . . .
 
* The rigors of the road continue for Eastern, but Thursday's (Feb. 6) game in Missoula will provide plenty of motivation. The Eagles try to maintain first place in the Big Sky Conference standings when they play at Montana for the rematch of EWU's 90-63 loss to the Grizzlies on Jan. 9 in Cheney in the lone home loss of the season for EWU. Tipoff is 6:05 p.m. Pacific time in a game televised regionally by SWX. Eastern is in the midst of a playing three road games in a six-day span. Eastern is scheduled to fly from Arizona to Missoula on Feb. 4 in anticipation of one of EWU's biggest games of the season.
 
* 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.
 
* Senior guard Sayeed Pridgett leads UM with averages of 19.1 points, 7.2 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 1.5 steals per game. Teammate Kendal Manuel is averaging 15.0 points, 3.6 rebounds and 1.7 assists. The Grizzlies are idle until playing EWU on Feb. 6, and are 9-1 at home this season with the lone loss coming on Nov. 18 when they were upset by Montana Tech 74-72.
 
* The Eagles will close a stretch of four games from Feb. 1 to Feb. 8 with a home game versus Montana State. Eastern is 8-1 at home this season, with the lone loss at Reese Court coming in the 27-point setback to the Grizzlies. Only a 112-77 loss at Gonzaga – a 35-point margin – have been larger against EWU this season.
 
 
Other Top Performances . . .
 
* Meadows finished with five points and Rouse had six with a pair of 3-pointers. True freshman point guard Ellis Magnuson had five points and four first-half assists, and Davison has five assists. Peatling also had four assists, a pair of steals and a blocked shot as he finished with his seventh double-double of the season and 15th in his career, with EWU owning a 14-1 record in those games. Aiken had his 10th double-double of the season, but first since Jan. 4 against Portland State. He now has 14 career double-doubles with a 10-4 record.
 
 
More Notes . . .
 
* Eastern has won 13 of the last 16 versus Northern Arizona and has a five-game winning streak, but equaled the all-time series versus NAU 36-36 (12-23 in Flagstaff, 22-12 in Cheney, 2-1 neutral). The Eagles have won three of the last four in Flagstaff, and haven't lost there since March 4, 2017, in a 76-61 loss. Eastern has won the last eight meetings in Cheney dating back to a 73-69 loss on Jan. 15, 2010. 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.
 
* Through games of Feb. 1, Eastern was ranked fifth in NCAA Division I in scoring with an average of 82.2 points per game, with Gonzaga leading at 88.6 per game. The Eagles also rank fifth in assists (17.6 per game), 14th in assist-to-turnover ratio (+1.35 per game) and 57th in field goal percentage (.462) to lead the league, and are 67th in steals (7.8) and 37th in 3-point field goals per game (9.1) to rank second in the Big Sky. Individually, sophomore Kim Aiken Jr. is fourth in NCAA Division I in defensive rebounds per game (8.6) and 20th in rebounding overall (10.3). He leads the Big Sky in both categories, and is also 32nd in the nation with nine double-doubles. Senior Mason Peatling has worked his way up to 90th in rebounding overall (8.4 to rank second in the league behind Aiken) and 62nd in offensive rebounds per game (3.0 to rank third in the BSC). Junior Jacob Davison is 80th nationally and sixth in the Big Sky in scoring (17.9) and he and Aiken are second in the league and 60th in the nation in steals (1.85). True freshman Ellis Magnuson is 47th in the nation in assists (5.3 to rank third in the Big Sky) and is 61st in assist-to-turnover ratio (+2.14 per game to rank second in the league). Davison, Aiken and Mason Peatling all rank in the top 10 in the Big Sky in scoring, with Peatling averaging 15.9 (eighth) and Aiken at 14.8 (10th).
 
 
More Comments from Head Coach Shantay Legans . . .
 
On Defense: "It was huge for us to come out and play great defense. Mason and the other leaders we have on this team make it easy on me. They understand how important each game is and how much fun they are having. They are doing a great job, and defense is what really won this game for us."
 
On Rebounding: "Guys are getting to the glass and they are fighting and battling. They are following the game plan and that was huge tonight. We needed to keep them off the 3-point line and not let Cameron Shelton sit in the paint all-game long. We did a good job of keeping him outside the paint. We wanted to keep him off the line and we didn't, but rebounding was huge tonight."