The first half was a 19-point turnaround from a previous effort, but the second half was its own kind of turnaround.
 
After a 67 percent shooting half that led to a 45-44 halftime lead, the Eastern Washington University men's basketball team went cold in the second half and fell out of first place in the Big Sky Conference standings with a 92-82 loss at Montana Thursday (Feb. 6) in Missoula, Mont.
 
Junior Jacob Davison scored 16 points of his game-high 34 points in a 5:25 stretch of the first half to help EWU overcome an 11-point deficit. He also scored five in a late 11-2 run that pulled EWU within two in the final seconds before Montana put the game away at the free throw line.
 
A total of 55 fouls were called in the game – 29 versus the Grizzlies and 26 against EWU -- with a total of 53 free throws shot between the two teams. Eastern rallied from deficits of 11 points in the first half and 13 in the second half as its six-game winning streak dating back to the first Montana loss came to an end.
 
"The tougher team won today," said Eastern head coach Shantay Legans, whose team suffered through a 2-of-11 shooting stretch early in the second half. "We have to figure out some of the things and plays we didn't handle and do well. We are getting behind and doing things that are uncharacteristic of our prior play. We have to make sure we're prepared for that moment. I hope we get them again – it will be fun."
 
Eastern sank just 42 percent of its shots in the second half of the rematch of EWU's 90-63 loss to the Grizzlies on Jan. 9 in Cheney. The Eagles trailed at halftime of that game 46-28 in the lone home loss of the season for EWU.
 
Senior Mason Peatling scored 20 and had seven rebounds for the Eagles, and redshirt freshman Casson Rouse came off the bench to score 11. Eastern fell to 8-3 in the Big Sky Conference while Montana regained first place and has a 9-3 record. Northern Colorado is also 8-3.
 
The game versus the Grizzlies was Eastern's third road game in a six-day span, and EWU won the first two – 59-54 at Sacramento State on Feb. 1 and 77-66 at Northern Arizona on Feb. 3. Eastern flew from Arizona to Missoula on Feb. 4 in anticipation of one of EWU's biggest games of the season. Eastern now returns home to face Montana State on Saturday (Feb. 8) at 2:05 p.m. Pacific time at Reese Court in Cheney, Wash.
 
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.
 
Eastern had eight turnovers in the first seven minutes, and Montana led early 7-0 and 21-10. But Davison got untracked, taking – and making – his first shot with 12:11 left in the half. He ended up scoring 16 points in a stretch of 5:26, and had 19 at intermission.
 
Included in Davison's hot stretch were 12 points during a 20-4 deficit that helped Eastern turn an 11-point deficit into a six-point lead. The Eagles took their first lead on a dunk and three-point play by Davison with 7:14 left, then led 35-29 on a 3-pointer by Rouse with 4:50 to play.
 
At halftime, with a collective 25 fouls called on the two teams, Eastern led 45-44 after a basket by Peatling in the final seconds. In the first meeting, EWU trailed 46-28 at intermission, but this time the Eagles shot a blistering 66.7 percent from the field in spite of 11 first-half turnovers.
 
Peatling started the second half with a basket to give EWU the lead, but the Eagles would hit just two of their next 11 shots and fell behind 62-55 with 9:57 to play. A 9-0 run for the Grizzlies gave them a 12-point lead with 8:48 to play, and Montana led by as many as 13 and 12 with 4:45 to play.
 
But Davison hit a pair of 3-pointers, spurring a 11-2 run to pull EWU within two. His fast-break layin cut the lead to 84-80 with 1:10 left, then a blocked shot by Peatling led to his basket on a feed from Davison with 36 seconds remaining.
 
Montana sank a pair of free throws with 28 seconds left, then sealed it with six more in the last 11 seconds after EWU missed its last two shots of the game.
 
 
Records . . .
 
* Eastern is now 15-7 on the season and 8-3 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 6-6 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.
 
* 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.
 
* 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 (8-3) are now a half-game behind the Grizzlies (9-3), who beat Montana State 78-64 a week ago in their last game. Northern Colorado (8-3) beat Southern Utah 68-60 on Thursday and is now tied with EWU, followed by Northern Arizona (7-5) and Southern Utah and Montana State (6-5).
 
* Montana is now 13-10 overall and 9-3 in the Big Sky. Senior guard Sayeed Pridgett scored 24 versus the Eagles, and entered the game leading UM with averages of 19.1 points, 7.2 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 1.5 steals per game. Teammate Kendal Manuel had 18 versus EWU and was averaging 15.0 points, 3.6 rebounds and 1.7 assists. The Grizzlies are 10-1 at home this season with the lone loss coming on Nov. 18 when they were upset by Montana Tech 74-72.
 
 
What's Next . . .
 
* 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, but is also an impressive 7-5 on the road which includes a convincing 71-58 victory at MSU on Jan. 18. The Eagles have won seven home games in a row in the series with MSU, and have not lost to the Bobcats at Reese Court since a 60-56 Bobcat win on Feb. 24, 2011.
 
* The Bobcats are coming off a 72-50 win at Idaho on Thursday, and are now 6-5 in the league and 12-10 overall. Montana State entered the Idaho game ranked 27th in NCAA Division I in 3-point field goal percentage defense (.294) to rank second in the Big Sky (Northern Colorado leads at .286). Eastern recently had a performance of 14 3-pointers at Northern Arizona, the second-most by the Eagles this season.
 
* With statistics entering Thursday's action, two of the Big Sky's top six individual scorers will be on display Saturday, including Montana Sate's Harald Frey (18.2, fifth) and Eastern's Jacob Davison (17.9, sixth). In the first meeting, Davison scored 26 on 8-of-21 shooting from the field, while Frey had 19 and made 6-of-18 shots. Davison hit 4-of-13 3-point shots and Frey made 2-of-7. Including Eagles Mason Peatling (15.8, eighth) Kim Aiken Jr. (14.0, 10th), the totals are four of the top 10. Coupled with Montana State's Amin Adamu (11.7, 19th) and Jubrile Belo (11.7, 19th), six of the top 20 scorers in the league will play Saturday. In league games only, all six players rank in the top 19 – Frey (19.1, third), Davison (17.7, sixth), Peatling (16.6, ninth), Aiken (13.9, 13th), Adamu (13-2, 14th) and Belo (12.3, 18th).
 
 
Other Top Performances . . .
 
* Davison also had six rebounds and four assists as he hit 13-of-22 shots from the field, including 3-of-4 from the 3-point arc. He now has a pair of 30+ performances this season and three in his career, and 9/18 with at least 20. Sophomore Kim Aiken Jr. scored just seven points, but finished with a game-high nine rebounds. Peatling made 6-of-8 shots from the field and 7-of-10 from the free throw line. Rouse hit a pair of 3-pointers and made all three of his free throws to record his fourth double-figure scoring performance of his career. Junior Jack Perry hit a pair of 3-pointers to finish with six points, four rebounds and three assists.
 
* The Eagles finished the game at 54 percent, helped by a late 8-of-12 shooting stretch. It was the first time Eastern has lost this season in 12 games when it has made at least 46 percent of its shots.
 
 
More Notes . . .
 
* Eastern is 23-55 against the Grizzlies since becoming a member of NCAA Division I in 1983-84, including a 10-29 record in Missoula, 13-22 in Cheney and 0-4 on neutral courts. Montana leads the overall series 71-44. The Eagles have still won three of the last six meetings in Missoula and two of the last three in Cheney. Until winning 75-69 on Feb. 5, 2015, the Eagles had lost their last 12 meetings in Missoula, dating back to a 71-52 Eagle win on Feb. 7, 2004. The Eagles would also beat the Grizzlies on their home floor in the 2015 Big Sky Championship game, giving the Eagles a berth in the NCAA Tournament. Eastern also picked up a 72-60 victory at Montana on Jan. 26, 2017. EWU is 1-6 versus the Griz in the Big Sky Tournament. Besides the 2015 victory, Eastern has also lost to the Grizzlies in the 2018 (82-65) and 2019 (68-62) title games. The Eagles lost 74-66 to UM in the 2012 semifinals in Missoula; 73-71 in overtime in the 2006 semifinals in Flagstaff, Ariz.; 58-48 in the 2005 quarterfinals; and 70-66 in the 2002 championship in Bozeman.
 
 
More Comments from Head Coach Shantay Legans . . .
 
On Jacob Davison: "He had a great game and did some very good things. He played 40 minutes, and that's tough because we have another game in two days. He has been playing over 35 minutes per game, but he gave great effort tonight and it was fun and watch him work. For a guy who goes to the basket so much, he only had eight free throws in the game. We have to make sure he is going to the basket strong and get more fouls."
 
On Total of 55 Fouls Called: "It was not a fun game to watch and it wasn't a fun game to coach. Our guys battled and I enjoyed how hard they played and I enjoyed the fight. Montana did a great job and their crowd is great, but it's tough to play herky-jerky like that. But it happens, and we have to be prepared and ready for that style of play. We'll get that figured out."
 
On Defense and Giving Up Nine 3-Pointers: "I didn't think we played well defensively. We gave a team that doesn't shoot the 3-ball well nine on 60 percent shooting. And we let Manuel hit some threes in the second half after doing well against him in the first half. He changed the game and they got up by 12. We had to battle back and get back into the game. You have to play smarter and be willing to put it all on the line."