Lots of lead changes, lots of ties, lots of 3-pointers and lots of Jacob Davison, Kim Aiken Jr. and Tanner Groves.
 
But two Southern Utah scoring runs were the difference in the game as the Eastern Washington University men's basketball team fell to SUU 99-94 Saturday (Jan. 16) in a Big Sky Conference game at Reese Court. It was EWU's first league loss in three tries this season, while the Thunderbirds improved to 5-1 and 10-2 overall.
 
The Eagles scored a season-high 94 points, but the 99 they surrendered were also a high. The Thunderbirds sank 56 percent of their shots from the field, and had a 12-0 run to overcome a nine-point deficit. A late 6-0 run gave them an insurmountable nine-point advantage with 25 ticks of the clock left, and they secured it at the free throw line where they were an impressive 30-of-34 for the afternoon for 88 percent.
 
The game featured a total of 15 lead changes and 10 ties – both highs for the season for EWU. The Eagles led for 26:08 in the game compared to just 11:11 for SUU. Two days earlier in an 83-75 Eagle win, EWU led for 39:25 and the game was tied the other 35 seconds.
 
Eastern's trio of Kim Aiken Jr., Tanner Groves and Jacob Davison combined for 75 Eagle points, and EWU finished with a season-high 19 3-pointers – one from the school record. Davison led the way with 31 points and nine 3-pointers – one from the school record of 10 – and Aiken finished with 23 points and five treys. Aiken also had 12 rebounds to finish with the 17th double-double of his career – but his first this season. Groves scored 21 and sophomore Tyler Robertson chipped in 12 points.
 
"We can do that – we have great shooters all the way around," said Eastern head coach Shantay Legans of his team's 19-of-43 3-point shooting performance. "But we have to make sure our defensive play is better. I think we are a good defensive team, and we have to come back next week and focus on that side of the ball. I think we'll be okay."
 
 
Records
 
* The Eagles, the preseason and defending regular season champions, are 3-5 overall and 2-1 in the Big Sky Conference. Besides beating Southern Utah 75-63 on Thursday (Jan. 14), EWU picked up an 80-64 victory at Northern Arizona on Dec. 19. The first game of that doubleheader was canceled because of Covid-19 testing protocols and will not be made up. Eastern beat The College of Idaho 80-56 on Dec. 11 for their first victory of the season and lone game at Reese Court until playing the doubleheader versus SUU.
 
* Eastern has had a trio of losses to top-notch NCAA Division I competition by a total of just 11 points after leading at halftime and with 10 minutes left in each.  One of those was an 80-75 loss on Dec. 15 at Saint Mary's, which had entered the game ranked fourth in the CollegeInsider.com top 25 poll of mid-major teams. Two of those losses were versus Pac-12 Conference foes Washington State and Arizona.
 
* Southern Utah is now 5-1 in the league and 10-2 overall after having its nine-game winning streak snapped in Thursday's 75-63 loss to the Eagles.
 
 
Top EWU Performers
 
Senior Jacob Davison, the preseason MVP in the Big Sky Conference, scored 31 points to more than double his previous season high of 15. He hit nine 3-pointers in 18 attempts, and 11-of-27 shots overall.
Junior Tanner Groves hit 7-of-12 shots from the field and all five of his free throws, but played just 29 minutes because of foul trouble. He also had five rebounds, three assists and a pair of blocked shots.
Junior Kim Aiken Jr., a preseason All-Big Sky selection, had his 17th career double-double, finishing with 23 points and 12 rebounds. He made five 3-pointers and 7-of-11 shots overall, and also had a pair of steals and two blocked shots. Eastern is now 12-5 in the 17 career games he's had a double-double. He also added three blocked shots and four assists, and sank 3-of-8 field goals and 3-of-4 free throws. His previous career high was 26 in his sophomore season at Washington.
Sophomore Tyler Robertson added 12 points, and joined teammate Ellis Magnuson with a team-high five assists.
 
 
Game Details & Turning Point
 
Much like its win two days earlier, Eastern led much of the early going thanks to eight early points by Groves. After the Thunderbirds took a short-lived lead, EWU used a flagrant foul on SUU to spark a 10-2 run and go back up by five with 6:13 left in the half.
 
Eastern, though, suffered through a 1-of-9 shooting stretch and the Thunderbirds regained the lead. But Aiken scored EWU's last 11 points in the final 1:37, including a trio of 3-pointers. His double-clutch trey at the buzzer gave EWU a 49-47 halftime advantage.
 
Aiken scored 19 points in the first half, Groves had 12 and Davison added 11 as that trio scored 42 of EWU's 49 points. The Eagles hit 10 3-pointers in the first half, but were out-shot by SUU 61 percent to 41 percent. It was both the most points scored and allowed in a half this season by the Eagles.
 
Eastern used an early 11-2 run in the second half to go up by nine, then a 3-pointer by Aiken – EWU's 14th of the game – put EWU up by double digits at 63-53 with 15:58 remaining.
 
The Eagles led by nine on a 3-pointer by Davison with 13:24 remaining, but the Eagles missed its next eight shots and went exactly five minutes without scoring. The resulting 12-0 Thunderbird run gave SUU the lead, and it was a back-and-forth battle after that.
 
Neither team led by more than three points in the next six minutes before SUU took a four-point lead with 2:23 remaining. They expanded it to six moments later before Davison hit EWU's 17th 3-pointer at the 1:29 mark. But the Eagles would follow with a pair of misses and a turnover to allow the Thunderbirds to take their biggest lead of the weekend at nine with 25 seconds left.
 
Davison hit a pair of 3-pointers after that, but EWU could never cut it to less than three. Davison missed a desperation 35-foot 3-pointer at the buzzer, which could have tied both the EWU individual and team 3-point records.
 
 
Series Notes
 
* The Eagles are now 16-7 all-time against Southern Utah (9-2 in Cheney, 5-5 in Cedar City, 2-0 on a neutral court). The Eagles had won the last nine meetings in Cheney, but suffered their first loss to the Thunderbirds at Reese Court since Dec. 21, 1993, by a 70-68 score. Eastern has a four-game winning streak overall in the series snapped. EWU had lost the last two meetings in Cedar City until a 69-51 win on Feb. 27, 2020. That was part of a season sweep by the Eagles that also included an 81-78 overtime victory at home for the Eagles on Jan. 25, 2020.
 
* Included in EWU's recent victories over SUU was a 77-61 win in the semifinals of the 2019 Big Sky Conference Tournament in Boise, Idaho. A year earlier, EWU recorded an 82-70 victory over the Thunderbirds on March 9, 2018, in the quarterfinals of the league tourney in Reno, Nevada. The Thunderbirds joined the Big Sky in the 2012-13 season and EWU is 14-3 versus them since then with an eight-game winning streak from Feb. 16, 2013, to Jan. 20, 2018. Southern Utah announced earlier on Thursday (Jan. 14) its intent to leave the Big Sky Conference for the Western Athletic Conference (WAC), effective July 1, 2022.
 
 
More Game Notes
 
* With 10 3-pointers in the first half and nine in the second, the Eagles flirted with the school record of 20 set against Portland State on Jan. 28, 2016. Eastern finished the SUU game with 43 3-point attempts, and the school record of 45 came against Oregon on Nov. 9, 2018. Eastern's high through the first seven games of the season was 10 3-pointers made on two occasions, and 35 attempts versus The College of Idaho on Dec. 11. Davison's previous high for 3-pointers made was seven, and the school record is 10 set twice previously. The record for 3-pointers attempted is 23.
 
* A year ago, the Thunderbirds were 18-14 overall and 12-18 in the league to finish fourth. In this year's preseason polls, Southern Utah was picked to finish sixth by the media and seventh by the coaches. Illinois transfer Tevian Jones entered Thursday's game averaging 19.2 points to pace the Thunderbirds, including a team-high 28 3-pointers in 79 attempts (35.4 percent). The 6-foot-7 junior entered second in the league in scoring and his average of 2.8 made treys per game led the league. He's supported by three other players averaging in double figures heading into action this week – 6-6 junior Maizen Fausett (13.6), 6-3 guard John Knight III (12.5) and 6-0 guard Dre Marin (10.5). Fausett also averaged 6.6 rebounds per game to rank eighth in the Big Sky, and Knight led the league in assists (4.5) and Marin was ninth (2.7).
 
 
On the Horizon
 
* Eastern is scheduled to return to the road to face Northern Colorado for a doubleheader on Jan. 21 and 23 against a Bears team ranked third by the media and fifth by the coaches in the preseason poll. Led by first-year head coach Steve Smiley, UNC is 7-6 overall and 4-4 in the Big Sky following a 74-54 road victory at Idaho on Jan. 14 and a 75-61 victory two days later. The Bears suffered a pair of home losses to Montana State recently, falling 79-67 on Jan. 7 and then 76-74 in overtime on Jan. 9.
 
* Preseason All-Big Sky selection Bodie Hume leads the Bears with averages of 16.5 points and 7.5 rebounds per game entering the Idaho series. The 6-foot-6 junior guard is supported by 6-4 junior guard Daylen Kountz with averages of 11.9 points and 3.0 rebounds per game, and 6-2 guard Matt Johnson averages 10.5 points, 2.4 assists and 2.1 boards. A year ago, the Bears were 22-9 overall and 15-5 in the Big Sky to finish second behind EWU.
 
 
 
More Comments from Head Coach Shantay Legans
 
On Southern Utah Effort: "We have to give a lot of credit to Southern Utah. They did a good job of putting pressure on us and getting the ball to the basket. They finished at the rim and put us in some tough positions. Getting Tanner if foul trouble was huge – he's our anchor down low and he had to be really, really good for us. We have been one of the best teams in the country in not picking up fouls, and today we did. We sent them to the line 34 times, and we have to give them credit for stepping up to the line and knocking them down."
 
On Defense Versus Thunderbirds: "They put us on our heels and spots where we had to make sure we were closing out to them. We have to be better and know exactly what we need to do. We have to be prepared – on Thursday we were revved up and ready to go. Southern Utah came back and did a good job of putting us in tough positions."