It took 12 minutes for the Eagles to shake off a little rust from not practicing all week, but for the final eight minutes of the first half the offense and defense was clicking on all cylinders.
 
The Eastern Washington University men's basketball team used an 18-1 run to end the first half and open a 15-point halftime lead on its way to beating Sacramento State 68-60 at Reese Court in Cheney, Wash., on Sunday (Jan. 31).
 
After a three-day delay to play the game because of a positive Covid-19 case within their program, the Eagles finally played the Hornets and were led by a double-double – in the first half alone -- by Tanner Groves. The Eagles also host the Hornets on Monday (Feb. 1) at 11:05 a.m. Pacific time. The games were originally going to be played on Thursday/Saturday.
 
"I'm proud of the way we played," said Eastern head coach Shantay Legans, whose team had a season best by holding Sac State to just 22 first-half points. "I'm particularly proud of the way we defended and rebounded in that first half."
 
Now sitting at 4-2 in the Big Sky Conference as the preseason favorites to win the league title, Eastern had its first back-to-back Big Sky wins of the season. Eastern was coming off an 82-76 win at Northern Colorado on Jan. 23 in which EWU followed its third-fewest points in a half (27) with its most points in any half all year (55).
 
The Eagles held Sac State to no field goals in the final 8:12 of the first half, scoring 14 unanswered points during the 18-1 run. The Eagles led 37-22 at intermission, and trailed by no less than four in the closing seconds of the game. The Eagles closed the contest by making all four of its free throw attempts in the final 17 seconds.
 
Groves finished with 23 points, a career-high 15 rebounds, two assists and a blocked shot. Sophomore Tyler Robertson netted 13 points, including 11 in the second half. His steal and basket with 1:38 remaining was the dagger as he helped preserve a 10-point lead for EWU.
 
Eastern had a huge 45 percent to 32 percent shooting advantage in the first half, and 42 to 35 percent for the game. Eastern also out-rebounded the Hornets 41-33, including 22-15 in the opening half.
 
"It was one of the best performances we've had – holding a team to 22 points in the first half was huge for us," said Legans. "Every game is going to be hard, but this was a game where we didn't practice all week."
 
The Eagles are 5-6 overall and still looking to get on the roll like they did a year ago en route to the regular season league title. Last year after five games of the league season, the Eagles were 3-2 like this year's team, and had won the first game of what would become a six-game winning streak. Eastern ended the regular season with a streak of seven-straight victories to win the league title with a 16-4 mark.
 
With only nine games played entering action this week, the Hornets had played the fewest games as any team in the Big Sky thus far (Eastern's 10 were the second-fewest).
 
Eastern is in a logjam in a league season impacted by numerous cancellations caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. Through the four league games that were able to be played thus far this week, Montana State sits on top at 6-0, followed by Southern Utah (6-2), Eastern (4-2), Weber State (4-2), Idaho State (5-3) and Sacramento State (4-3). Northern Colorado is at 5-6, followed by Northern Arizona (4-6), Montana (3-5), Portland State (2-4), and Idaho (0-9).
 
 
Records
 
* The Eagles, the preseason and defending regular season champions, are 5-6 overall and 4-2 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.
 
* Sacramento State is now 6-3 overall and 4-2 in the league, and was coming off a home split versus Montana (78-66 loss on Jan. 21 and 89-83 double-overtime victory on Jan. 23). The prior week, they fell to Idaho State 57-56 on Jan. 16 and then beat the Bengals two days later by a 70-65 score.
 
 
Top EWU Performers
 
Junior Tanner Groves had his third-straight double-double, finishing with 23 points and a career-high 15 rebounds after hitting double figures in each in the first half. He made 9-of-16 shots from the field, including a trio of 3-pointers, and also had a pair of assists and a blocked shot. Groves now has five double-doubles this season and six in his career. His previous high for rebounds was 13 twice this season, including at Northern Arizona to open league play in December.
Sophomore Tyler Robertson came off the bench to score 11 of his 13 points in the second half. He hit 5-of-10 shots for the game and also had four assists and a pair of steals.
Senior Jacob Davison, the preseason MVP in the Big Sky Conference, came off the bench to score nine, including seven in the first half. He also had four rebounds and three assists.
Junior Kim Aiken Jr., a preseason All-Big Sky selection, had just four points, but also contributed nine rebounds, two blocked shots, a steal and an assist.
Sophomore Michael Meadows chipped in six points and a pair of assists as he started for the second-straight game.
Sophomore Jacob Groves, the younger brother of junior Tanner Groves, also started and had four points and a rebound. Both Groves brothers are graduates of Shadle Park High School in Spokane, Wash.
Sophomore Ellis Magnuson scored five points and had an assist and a steal for EWU.
Redshirt freshman Steele Venters scored the final four Eastern points in the first half and also contributed three rebounds in the game for EWU.
 
 
Game Details & Turning Point
 
The first half was a nip-and-tuck affair through the first 12 minutes, with EWU's biggest lead of the early going coming at 15-11 and Sac State's largest lead at 21-19 on a basket at the 8:12 mark. But the Hornets would miss their final 12 shots of the half, and had only a free throw in that span as EWU led at intermission 37-22.
 
As a result, Eastern closed the half with an 18-1 run, including a string of 14-straight. Davison scored the first five points in the run, and Tanner Groves had the next nine – all on 3-pointers. Venters scored the final four points of the half for EWU.
 
The opening 20 minutes included four ties and six lead changes. Tanner Groves had a double-double in the first half alone with 15 points and 11 rebounds for EWU, and Davison scored seven.
 
The Hornets hit their first two shots in the second half, and eventually cut the lead to seven. But EWU was able to maintain their lead, with Robertson leading the charge with 11 second-half points.
 
 
Series Notes
 
* Since Eastern became a member of NCAA Division I in the 1983-84 season, the Eagles are now 39-15 versus Sacramento State, and the two schools did not play against each other prior to that. 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 23-4 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 had a 16-of-17 shooting stretch versus the Hornets, including seven of its last eight in the first half and their first nine of the second half.
 
 
More Game Notes
 
* The Hornets are led by a quartet of seniors all averaging in double figures entering Sunday's game. Six-foot-7 forward Ethan Esposito is this week's Big Sky Conference Player of the Week, and is now averaging 18.7 points to rank second in the league and 8.2 rebounds to rank second. UC Santa Barbara transfer Christian Terrell is averaging 13.2 points, 5.2 boards and 2.4 assists in five games played. Bryce Fowler is averaging 13.2 points to rank 13th in the Big Sky and 4.2 assists to rank second, and William FitzPatrick is the fourth Hornet averaging in double figures at 10.6 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 this week's games with a 148-223 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.
 
 
On the Horizon
 
* The Eagles also host the Hornets on Monday (Feb. 1) at 11:05 a.m. Pacific time. The games were originally going to be played on Thursday/Saturday. At this time, no spectators will be permitted to attend home basketball games due to institutional, regional, and state guidelines in regards to the Covid-19 pandemic.
 
* Monday's game will be available via PlutoTV channel 1053 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. Live statistics from all Eastern home games are available via http://ewustats.com.
 
* Idaho will look for their first win of the season under former Eagle player Zac Claus when they host EWU on Thursday (Feb. 4), with the Eagles hosting the Vandals on Saturday (Feb. 6) in a game televised live regionally on SWX. Idaho is 0-13 overall and 0-10 after hosting and falling twice to Weber State this past weekend, falling 81-56 on Jan. 28 and then 81-62 on Jan. 30.
 
* Claus lettered for EWU in the 1996-97 and 1997-98 seasons after transferring from Nebraska, and is in his second season at the helm at UI. A year ago, Eastern slipped past the Vandals in Moscow by a 78-75 score in a game that featured 10 ties and 10 lead changes. But Claus had a happy homecoming in his first game back at Reese Court as Idaho's head coach, with the Vandals winning 74-71. Eastern's furious comeback fell short as the Eagles trailed at halftime by 18 and by as many as 24 in the second half.
 
* Following Thursday's game, 6-foot-8 senior forward Scott Blakney is averaging 12.0 points per game to lead Idaho, and 5-11 senior guard Damen Thacker averages 11.3 points, 2.9 rebounds and 2.6 assists. Gabe Quinnett, a 6-4 sophomore guard, chips in 9.3 points and 2.2 assists. His father, Brian Quinnett, starred at Cheney High School and Washington State University before playing three seasons in the NBA for the New York Knicks and Dallas Mavericks.
 
* Since 1996 when Idaho first left the Big Sky Conference, the two schools have now played 28 times, with Eastern winning 16 of them. Idaho leads the all-time series 58-31. Since EWU became a NCAA Division I member in the 1983-84 season, EWU is 19-37 against Idaho (10-16 home, 8-17 away, 1-4 neutral). In the 14 meetings since Idaho re-joined the Big Sky Conference in the 2014-15 season, EWU is 8-6, but the average winning margin is just 6.9 points (total of 65). Not including a 25-point Eagle win in 2019, the average margin of the other 13 games is 5.5 points.
 
 
More Comments from Head Coach Shantay Legans
 
On Winning Without Practicing: "That has a lot to do with the culture and having players who are have experience in our program and continuity amongst the players. They've grown up together and they are great leaders. They came out and executed, and you have to be proud of them for that. You want your team to be okay, healthy and happy, and the No. 1 thing is our health. Our administration and athletic trainers did a great job in getting the guys ready and getting this game going. I'm proud of our fellas for how they responded."
 
On Beating Sac State: "They are a well-coached, they play hard, they are tough and they are physical. We did our best to spread them out, and they made the game close at the end. If we would have made some shots here and there, we could maybe run away with the win. But we couldn't do that against a team like Sac State."
 
 On Tyler Robertson in Second Half: "He was huge and clutch – he really made some really, really good buckets. He has a lot of flair in his game. He had the utmost confidence when he's out there playing, and we're happy for him. He's been under quarantine more than anybody else on our team. You feel for him, so when he plays a game like this you are very happy for his performance."
 
On Monday's Rematch: "I'm sure they'll reach into the bag and find some things to make it tough on us. I think they'll pressure and trap us a little more. But we have play more aggressive. Our team played the game not to make mistakes in the second half, and that's not the way I like us to play on the offensive side. I want them to play and have fun, and they have to go do that and find the open guys. I think they'll really try to shut down Tanner, and we have to make sure we are making the right decisions and the right passes to find the open shooters."