The Eagles followed a stellar first-half field goal shooting performance with an even more spectacular performance from the free throw line in the second half.
 
With a trio of players each scoring over 20 points, the Eastern Washington University men's basketball game set a school record for free throw accuracy in a 93-77 victory over Montana State to maintain sole possession of first place in the Big Sky Conference standings on Thursday (Feb. 11) at Worthington Arena in Bozeman, Mont.
 
Eastern made its first 25 free throws before finishing 27-of-28 for a .964 percentage to break the previous record of .952. A 22-of-23 performance in the second half helped Eastern maintain and even grow a seven-point halftime lead, which was helped by a 61 percent first-half shooting performance from the field.
 
"We were struggling from the free throw line early this season, but we've seemed to hit a groove," said Eastern head coach Shantay Legans. "Offensively our team did a very good job of moving the ball around. We had 15 assists but I thought we could have had 10 more because we missed some chippies."
 
The Eagles finished at 53 percent from the field and 48 percent from the 3-point line (10-of-21). A trio of Eagles combined for 67 points -- junior Tanner Groves equaled his career high with 26 and finished with a double-double with 12 rebounds and sank all nine of his free throws. Sophomore Michael Meadows scored a career-high 21 and junior Kim Aiken Jr. had 20, including an 8-of-8 performance from the line. Meadows had 17 points at halftime to tie his previous career high in the first half alone.
 
"It was great having Mike coming out and playing the way he did, and we ended with three players with 20 points," added Legans. "We got to the free throw line and knocked them down. We knew what we needed to do offensively."
 
In a doubleheader match-up between teams who swapped first-place positions in the Big Sky Conference standings last week, the Eagles and Bobcats play again Saturday at 11:05 a.m. Pacific time in a game aired live on SWX television.
 
Besides the two road games in Bozeman, Eastern's remaining schedule includes a home game versus Montana (Feb. 18), a road game at the Grizzlies (Feb. 20), and games versus Idaho State on March 3 and 5 at Reese Court in Cheney, Wash.
 
All 11 league teams will advance to the Big Sky Conference Basketball Championships, to be held for the third consecutive year at recently re-named Idaho Central Arena (formerly CenturyLink Arena) in Boise, Idaho. The neutral-site tournament will run from March 10-13, 2021, and begins two days earlier for the women.
 
 
Records
 
* The Eagles, defending regular season champions, are 9-6 overall and 8-2 in the Big Sky Conference.  Last week, Eastern swept Idaho to improve to 7-2 in the league standings and move into sole possession of first place in the league standings.
 
* Including Montana's 80-67 home win over Weber State (but not Idaho's game at Idaho State), Eastern is 8-2, followed by Southern Utah (6-2), Montana State (6-3), Weber State (6-3), Idaho State (5-3) and Sacramento State (4-4). Montana and Northern Colorado are at 5-6, followed by Northern Arizona (4-6), Portland State (3-5), and Idaho (0-12).
 
* In their second season under former Bobcat player Danny Sprinkle, the Bobcats are now 6-3 in the Big Sky and 9-6 overall with a three-game losing streak. The Bobcats were 6-0, but dropped their first conference game at Weber State 96-88 on Feb. 4 after having not lost since falling to 2-3 with a 62-59 loss at Portland on Dec. 22. They then suffered an 82-74 loss at Weber State on Feb. 6.
 
 
Top EWU Performers
 
Junior Tanner Groves sank 8-of-13 shots from the field and made all nine of his free throws to equal his career high of 26 points also set versus Northern Arizona earlier this season. Groves also had 12 rebounds, giving him six double-doubles this season and seven in his career.
Sophomore Michael Meadows scored 17 of his 21 points in the first half, and finished the game 7-of-13 from the field with a pair of 3-pointers. He made all five of his free throws.
Junior Kim Aiken Jr., a preseason All-Big Sky selection, scored 20 for EWU by making all eight of his free throws, 2-of-5 from the 3-point arc, and 3-of-4 inside it. He also had eight rebounds and three assists for EWU. Aiken has one double-double this season and 17 in his career, and 21 double-figure rebounding performance in his career.
Sophomore Tyler Robertson was the fourth Eagle in double figures with 10 points, and also had a team-high four assists and three rebounds.
Sophomore Jacob Groves, the younger brother of junior Tanner Groves, chipped in seven points for EWU. Both Groves brothers are graduates of Shadle Park High School in Spokane, Wash.
Senior Jack Perry had missed the last four games, but he hit 2-of-3 3-point attempts and finished with six points and three assists.
Senior Jacob Davison, the preseason MVP in the Big Sky Conference, did not play.
 
 
Game Details & Turning Point
 
With Meadows and the Groves Bros leading the way, Eastern opened an early five-point lead at 19-14 with 11:38 to play. But the Bobcats followed with a 10-0 run to regain the lead.
 
However, Robertson scored five in a run of nine-straight points for EWU, and the Eagles regained a 38-33 lead with 4:27 to play. Eastern opened its biggest lead of half on a steal and layin by Meadows at the 2:23 mark, and EWU led at halftime 49-42.
 
There were a total of six ties and three lead changes in the first half as Meadows equaled his career high in the first half alone with 17 points. Tanner Groves netted another dozen with seven rebounds in a half in which Eastern out-shot MSU 61 percent to 41 percent. The Eagles actually missed their first three shots and their last two, so they actually scored their 49 points while shooting at a 73 percent clip after that (19-of-26).
 
The Bobcats used a 10-2 run early in the second half to cut into EWU's lead, but Tanner Groves scored EWU's first nine points, including a 3-pointer with 15:31 to maintain a four-point lead.
 
Eastern wouldn't hit another field goal until the 11:37 mark when Perry nailed a 3-pointer to give EWU its largest lead of the night at 73-63. That came after the Eags sank all 12 of their free throw attempts in a 3 1/2 minute stretch to not only maintain but expand its lead. At that point, Eastern was a perfect 19-of-19 from the free throw line, including all 14 of its attempts in the second half. Aiken led the way with eight points from the charity stripe.
 
Soon after that, the Eagles would open an even bigger lead at 16 with a 7-0 run to complete a 10-1 stretch. Aiken scored the first five points in the surge which gave EWU an 80-64 lead at the 8:13 mark. Eastern led by no less than 12 the rest of the way.
 
 
Series Notes
 
* Eastern has won 14 of the last 18 meetings against Montana State, including a sweep last season with a 71-58 victory in Bozeman and a 74-49 triumph in Cheney to contribute to EWU's current four-game winning streak in the series. The year prior in the 2018-19 season, Eastern won two of three games – a 90-84 victory in the Big Sky Conference Tournament quarterfinals, a 74-66 loss in Bozeman and an 85-81 victory in Cheney. Eastern has won 25 of the last 38, and is 13-3 at home in that span. Eastern, in fact, has not lost to the Bobcats at Reese Court since a 60-56 Bobcat win on Feb. 24, 2011 for an eight-game winning streak. The Eagles are 45-46 all-time against MSU, including a 37-37 record as a member of NCAA Division I (24-12 in Cheney, 12-25 in Bozeman, 1-0 on neutral courts). The records include two MSU forfeits in the 1993-94 season.
 
 
More Game Notes
 
* Eastern made its first 25 free throws and finished 27-of-28 from the free throw line for a school-record .964 percentage. The previous school record (minimum of 20 attempts) was .952 set twice previously with 20-of-21 performances. The last time it occurred was on Jan. 8, 2009 versus Idaho State and the first time came against Portland on Dec. 10, 1994.
 
* Eastern has averaged 86.0 points per game during its current six-game winning streak, while allowing 71.8 for an average winning margin of 14.2 points per game. In the second half alone, Eastern is outscoring opponents by nearly 10 – 48.0 points to 38.2. During the streak, EWU has out-shot opponents 50.3 percent to 42.0 percent overall, and 38.7 percent to 35.6 percent from the 3-point stripe, and EWU has made 84.9 percent from the free throw line. Eastern also has a plus 7.5 rebounding margin in those six games, averaging 37.7 per game. The Eagles are 6-0 this season when they out-rebound their opponent, and 6-1 when they have at least 36 boards.
 
* Eastern had a busy seven-day stretch from Jan. 31 to Feb. 6, winning all four games it played after a positive Covid-19 within its program caused a postponement of two home games versus Sacramento State. Eastern won those two games – 68-60 on Jan. 31 and 94-79 on Feb. 1, then quickly turned around to win at Idaho 89-75 on Feb. 4. Eastern then beat the Vandals 90-64 two days later at home. Runs and balance told the stories of those four victories. In the Sac State sweep, EWU utilized an 18-1 run of the first win and runs of 16-2 and 16-0 in the rematch to register the sweep. Versus Idaho, a total of 11 Eastern players scored in the second meeting, with seven hitting at least one of the team's 10 3-pointers made. In the first game versus the Vandals, 10 players scored and eight combined for 11 treys. And the Eagles did all that without the services of senior Jack Perry, who missed all four games during the seven-day stretch, but had 103 career games of experience previously for EWU.
 
* The Eagles, 9-6 overall and with a six-game winning streak, are on the roll they had 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.
 
 
On the Horizon
 
* The Eagles and Bobcats play again Saturday (Feb. 13) at 11:05 a.m. Pacific time on a game that will be televised live regionally on SWX – both in Eastern Washington and in Montana. It will be available via PlutoTV on channel 1057, as well as 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, plus the MSU contest, are available via http://ewustats.com.
 
* Montana will visit Eastern on Feb. 18 in a game that starts at 6:05 p.m. Pacific time at Reese Court in Cheney, Wash. The two rivals will play again two days later (Feb. 20) in Missoula in a game that will begin at 11:05 a.m. Pacific time. Former Montana player Travis DeCuire is in his seventh season as head coach of the Grizzlies, and his team is 9-9 overall this season and 7-6 in the Big Sky after a Feb. 11 home win over Weber State. The Grizzlies also host Weber State on Feb. 13. Kyle Owens, a 6-foot-8 sophomore forward, leads Montana with averages of 11.6 points and 5.9 rebounds per game entering the week. Freshman guard Brandon Whitney is averaging 11.2 points, 1.8 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game, while 6-10 senior forward Michael Steadman adds 10.4 points and 5.7 boards per game.
 
 
More Comments from Head Coach Shantay Legans
 
On Areas to Improve: "There was a lack of discipline at the end of the game and have to be better than that. We have to rebound better and we gave up 30 points in the paint, which we can't do. We gave up 16 points off turnovers -- we just have to be better. It's good I'm saying that when we win, but we still have to be better. We expect to come out and play hard, but you can't give a team 17 more chances at a basket. I'm proud of our effort – our team fought hard. But 17 is too many, and we have to do a better job there."
 
On Rematch at MSU: "We have to be better defensively. Montana State is a great team and they missed some shots, but they got 17 offensive rebounds. We can't do that against them. It's going to be a dogfight on Saturday because they are a good team – they can really shoot it. They shot it well in the first half and had eight threes, and that really put us in a bind. We have to be ready. They are well-coached and have really good players. They got in foul trouble early and it kind of threw off their rhythm. It will be a whole different game on Saturday and we have to be ready."