There was disappointment in Greeley, Colo., for the Eastern Washington University men's basketball team versus Northern Colorado in a 78-76 setback Thursday (Jan. 21) in the first of two games versus the Bears
 
Trailing by 11 in the second half, Eastern rallied behind 6-foot-9 junior Tanner Groves to take a late lead. Eastern had the ball and a chance to win with 11 seconds left, but a turnover and foul led to a pair of game-winning free throws by the Bears with one tick of the clock left.
 
Groves led three Eagles in double figures with 20 points, and he also had 10 rebounds for his third double-double of the season. Eastern sank 49 percent of its shots and 88 percent from the free throw line, but the Eagles made just three 3-pointers compared to 13 for the Bears, who sank 43.3 percent of their treys compared to 18.8 percent for EWU.
 
The Eagles also take on the Bears on Saturday (Jan. 23) at 11:05 a.m. Pacific time. Eastern enters that game 2-2 in the league and 3-6 overall, while the Bears have a 5-4 Big Sky record and are 8-6 overall.
 
 
Records
 
* The Eagles, the preseason and defending regular season champions, are 3-6 overall and 2-2 in the Big Sky Conference. Because of the Covid-19 protocols and a positive case within EWU's program, Eastern went a full 25 days without a game. But they returned and beat Southern Utah 75-63 on Jan. 14, and two days later the Thunderbirds rallied from a 10-point second-half deficit to beat the Eagles 99-94. Eastern led for 65 1/2 out of a possible 80 minutes against SUU, but came out with a split. Eastern led for 39:25 the first game, then 26:08 in the second. Eastern scored a season-high 94 points and had 19 3-pointers to come one from the school record in the loss, but the Eagles were out-scored by 21 points at the free throw line and were whistled for twice as many fouls (26-13) as the Thunderbirds.
 
 * Northern Colorado was picked to finish third by the media and fifth by the coaches in the Big Sky Conference preseason polls. Led by first-year head coach Steve Smiley, UNC is 8-6 overall and 5-4 in the Big Sky following a 74-54 road victory at Idaho on Jan. 14 and a 75-61 victory there two days later. A year ago, the Bears were 22-9 overall and 15-5 in the Big Sky to finish second behind EWU.
 
 
Top EWU Performers
 
Junior Tanner Groves led the Eagles with 20 points, giving him three-straight performances with at least 20 points. He also had 10 rebounds to give him five double-doubles in his career, but his first in a loss. He sank 7-of-10 shots from the field and all six of his free throws, and also had a blocked shot.
Sophomore Tyler Robertson scored 16 points, including 12 in the first half. He was 5-of-13 from the field and 5-of-6 from the line, and also had five rebounds.
Senior Jacob Davison, the preseason MVP in the Big Sky Conference, scored 11 points on 3-of-7 shooting from inside the 3-point arc and 1-of-4 outside of it.
Sophomore Jacob Groves, the younger brother of junior Tanner Groves, came off the bench to score 10 points on 5-of-7 shooting and had three rebounds. Both Groves brothers are graduates of Shadle Park High School in Spokane, Wash.
Junior Kim Aiken Jr., a preseason All-Big Sky selection, scored all eight of his points in the second half. He also had seven rebounds and four assists.
Sophomore Ellis Magnuson chipped in a season-high seven points and also had five assists.
 
 
Game Details & Turning Point
 
There were four ties and three lead changes in the early going, but the Bears got hot to take command. Tied at 11, UNC went on a 7-0 run and took an 18-11 advantage.
 
Eastern trailed 33-30, but UNC scored the next five points and eventually led at halftime 47-38. Eastern hit 50 percent of its shots, but so did the Bears, who sank eight 3-pointers to EWU's three. Robertson scored 12 in the opening 20 minutes to lead the Eagles.
 
The Bears took their biggest lead of the night at 62-51 with 13:20 to play, but Eastern used a 14-4 run over the next six minutes to knot the score at 65. The Eagles capped that run with six-straight points, including a dunk and basket by Tanner Groves, and a tying bucket by his brother Jacob Groves.
 
Tanner gave Eastern its first lead since the opening minutes with a 3-point play with 7:13 to play that was the fifth lead change of the game. There were four more lead changes and four ties down the stretch, and the game was knotted at 76 in the final minute as neither team hit a field goal in the final two minutes.
 
Northern Colorado missed a field goal attempt with 13 seconds to play to set-up EWU for a potential game-winning possession. But a steal by UNC's Matt Johnson was followed by a backcourt foul by EWU, and Johnson nailed both charity shots for the win.
 
 
Series Notes
 
* The Eagles are 15-13 all-time versus UNC (10-3 in Cheney, 5-10 in Greeley), with the first meeting taking place on Dec. 20, 1971, when Eastern beat the Bears 76-68 in Greeley, Colo. Since then, all of the meetings have been with EWU as a member of NCAA Division I (since 1983-84), starting in the 2006-07 season when the Bears became a Big Sky Conference member. A year ago, Eastern swept the Bears with an 89-84 overtime victory at home followed by a 68-64 win in Greeley.
 
* Eastern had lost the last two times they've played in Greeley until the victory last season, but the Eagles have won the last six times the squads have met in Cheney dating back to an 88-80 Bear win in overtime on Feb. 28, 2013. Eastern has won nine of the last 13 overall since that loss, including a recent stretch of six victories in the last eight meetings ended with the 78-76 loss on Jan. 21.
 
 
More Game Notes
 
* This week's games are a match-up of the No. 4 offense in the league and the No. 4 defense, as Eastern entered the game averaging 73.9 points per game and UNC is surrendering 66.3. The Bears have the league's third-best 3-point shooting percentage (.361) and are tied at the top in the Big Sky in 3-point defense (.281). Eastern is seventh in the league in percentage (.333), but is second with an average of 9.3 3-pointers per game (Weber State is averaging 10.1). The Eagles, however, are third in 3-point field goal percentage defense (.294). The Bears finished the game hitting 13-of-30 3-pointers for 43.3 percent, compared to just 3-of-16 for the Eagles for 18.8 percent.
 
* Junior forward Tanner Groves entered action this week leading the Big Sky Conference in rebounding (8.9 per game) and field goal percentage (.541). He is also sixth in scoring (16.6), fourth in blocked shots (1.3) and fifth in free throw percentage (.810). Preseason All-Big Sky MVP Jacob Davison joined Groves with a 46-point weekend last week, including 31 in the second game versus Southern Utah on Jan. 16 when he hit nine 3-pointers to come one from the school record of 10. The senior entered action this week averaging 14.6 points to rank 10th in the league, and second in 3-pointers made per game (2.25). Pre-season All-Big Sky Conference selection Kim Aiken Jr. was second behind in Groves in rebounding in the league, averaging 8.0 per game to go along with 11.8 points per outing. He also joined Groves in ranking fourth in the BSC in blocked shots (1.25). Sophomore Tyler Robertson was also averaging in double figures for EWU entering the week at 11.6 points per game, and was also 10th in the league in assists (2.7).
 
* Entering action this weekend, preseason All-Big Sky selection Bodie Hume led the Bears with averages of 15.7 points and 7.5 rebounds per game. The 6-foot-6 junior guard is supported by 6-4 junior guard Daylen Kountz with averages of 12.1 points and 3.2 rebounds per game, and 6-2 guard Matt Johnson averaged 11.6 points, 2.3 assists and 2.2 boards. Hume is seventh in the league in scoring and fourth in rebounding, and his average of 2.2 3-pointers per game ranks fourth and his 1.3 blocks per game is third.
 
 
On the Horizon
 
* The Eagles also take on the Bears again on Saturday (Jan. 23) at 11:05 a.m. Pacific time in Greeley. The game is available via PlutoTV channel 1059 and via https://bigskyconf.com/watchbigsky. Eastern games are also aired live on radio on 700-AM ESPN, 105.3-FM, via the web at tunein.com and via mobile phone app, with pre-game coverage starting a half-hour prior to tipoff. Larry Weir serves as the play-by-play broadcaster.
 
* The Eagles return to Reese Court on Jan. 28 to host Sacramento State at 6:05 p.m. Pacific time, then host the Hornets two days later on Jan. 30 for a game that starts at 11:05 a.m. (changed recently to accommodate Sac State travel). With only seven games played entering action this week, the Hornets had played the fewest games as any team in the Big Sky thus far (Eastern's eight was the second-fewest). Sacramento State is 5-2 overall and 3-1 in the league after falling to Idaho State 57-56 on Jan. 16 and then beating the Bengals two days later by a 70-65 score.
 
* Entering action this week, the Hornets are led by a quartet of seniors all averaging in double figures. Six-foot-7 forward Ethan Esposito is averaging 16.9 points and 7.6 rebounds, and UC Santa Barbara transfer Christian Terrell is averaging 14.8 points, 5.2 boards and 2.4 assists. Bryce Fowler is averaging 11.6 points and 4.0 assists, and William FitzPatrick is the fourth Hornet averaging in double figures at 11.4 points per outing.
 
* Brian Katz is in his 13th season as head coach of the Hornets, making him the dean of coaches in the league. He entered a pair of home games versus Montana this week with a 147-222 record in Sacramento. A year ago, Sac State was 16-14 overall and 8-12 in the league to place in a tie for eighth, and this year were picked to finish ninth by both the coaches and media in the league's preseason polls. The Eagles and Hornets were set to meet in last year's Big Sky Conference Tournament before the Covid-19 pandemic shut down the remainder of the 2019-20 season.