The script was familiar. And the final score as well.
 
Another fast and furious start by the Eastern Washington University men's basketball team helped the Eagles lead from start to finish for the second-straight game as the Eagles registered a 90-76 victory over Montana Saturday (Feb. 20) in Missoula, Mont.
 
Having won by the same score two days earlier, it was EWU's first regular season sweep of the Grizzlies since the 2003 league season. The Eagles opened an early 17-3 lead, then led by 22 at halftime in another dominating first-half performance.
 
Junior Kim Aiken Jr. had a monster game with a career-high 28 points and the 20th double-double of his career with 10 rebounds, two blocked shots, two steals and two assists. The Eagles led by 22 at halftime and by as many as 29 in the second half.
 
"We did everything we possibly could in the first half to make sure we weren't forcing shots and weren't taking bad shots," said Eastern head coach Shantay Legans, who improved to 52-19 (.732) in league games in his four years at the helm. "We took the right shot and everybody was there for one another. It was a fun game to coach and be a part of, and it's always great to beat Montana."
 
Eastern won for the ninth-straight time, and hasn't tasted defeat since losing at Northern Colorado on Jan. 21. Sophomore Michael Meadows had his seventh-straight game in double figures with 20 as EWU out-shot the Grizzlies 48 percent to 44 percent, and out-rebounded UM 37-31.
 
Two days earlier, Eastern used an early 17-of-19 shooting start to lead by as many as 27 points in the first half and no less than 12 in the second half as EWU and snapped a four-game losing streak to UM. Legans admits he knew of the losing streak to Montana, but was unaware EWU hadn't swept the Grizzlies in 18 years.
 
"I didn't hear that, but that is a long time I guess," he said. "There are a lot of things we are hearing lately, but we're just happy our players go out there and handle their business. We just have to play our game and our team is doing that. The guys are excited and it's a self-motivating game. They pretty much did the scout for this game and were ready to go."
 
The nine-game winning streak is now in sole possession of second-best in Eastern's NCAA Division I history, and is one of 12 the Eagles have had of six-straight or more since moving to D-I in the 1983-84 season. The record is 11 set by the 2003-04 Eastern team which advanced to the NCAA Tournament that season.
 
Eastern have handed Montana their worst two Big Sky losses of the season. The Eagles are now 11-2 in the Big Sky and 12-6 overall, and have won at least 10 league games for the eighth-straight season. That only happened six times before in EWU's first 30 seasons as a member of NCAA Division I.
 
Entering the day 1 1/2 games ahead of second-place Southern Utah, the Eagles solidified their hold on sole possession of first place in the league standings. Eastern's remaining league schedule includes home games versus Idaho State on March 3 and 5 at Reese Court in Cheney, Wash.
 
Through Saturday's games, Eastern is 11-2 in the Big Sky, followed by Southern Utah (8-2), Weber State (9-3), Idaho State (7-3), and Montana State (6-4). They are followed by Portland State (5-5), Northern Colorado (5-6), Sacramento State (4-6), Montana (5-9), Northern Arizona (4-8), and Idaho (0-16).
 
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 12-6 overall and 11-2 in the Big Sky Conference. Eastern is coming off its third-straight sweep in league play, beating Montana State twice in Bozeman by relatively easy 93-77 and 85-69 scores. Eastern is now 9-2 in the Big Sky and 10-6 overall with four games left to play in league play. The Eagles have a current seven-game winning streak, matching Eastern's season-ending streak of a year ago. It's the best since EWU won eight in a row in the 2017-18 season, ended with an 82-65 loss to Montana on March 10, 2018, in the Big Sky Conference Tournament in Reno, Nevada.
 
* The Grizzlies are now 5-9 in the league and 9-12 overall, but had defeated the Eagles the last four times they've met before this weekend. Two of those games were in Big Sky Conference Tournament championships in 2018 and 2019, and the teams were on a collision course to meet again in 2020 in the tournament before the Covid-19 pandemic ended the season prematurely.
 
 
 
Top EWU Performers
 
Junior Kim Aiken Jr., a preseason All-Big Sky selection, had the 11 performance of at least 20 points in his career, and his 20th double-double. He finished with a career-high 28 points, 10 rebounds, two blocked shots, two steals and two assists to give him three double-doubles this season and 23 double-figure rebounding performances in his career. He sank 8-of-14 shots overall, 4-of-5 from the 3-point arc and 8-of-9 free throws. His previous career high was 26 versus Washington on Dec. 4, 2019.
Sophomore Michael Meadows had the second 20-point game of his career, finishing with 20 on 7-of-10 shooting. He sank 2-of-3 treys and 4-of-5 free throws, and also had three rebounds and a pair of assists. He has now scored in double figures in seven-straight games.
Junior Tanner Groves finished with 14 points on 6-of-11 shooting, and also had a pair of rebounds and three steals. He has nine double-doubles in his career and seven this season.
Sophomore Tyler Robertson had seven points and three rebounds.
Senior Jack Perry came off the bench to hit a 3-pointer and also had a pair of assists.
Sophomore Jacob Groves, the younger brother of junior Tanner Groves, chipped in four points and five rebounds. Both Groves brothers are graduates of Shadle Park High School in Spokane, Wash.
Junior Ellis Magnuson had a team-high five assists and also had four rebounds and four points.
Senior Jacob Davison, the preseason MVP in the Big Sky Conference, played seven minutes and had four points on 4-of-4 shooting from the free throw line. He played only two minutes in the first meeting against Montana after missing the previous two games.
True freshman Victor Radocaj added four points as 12 different Eagles played and 10 scored.
 
 
Game Details & Turning Point
 
The Eagles used an early 13-1 run to take an early 17-3 lead as the Eagles sank seven of their first 12 shots while holding Montana to a 1-of-10 start. In fact, the Eagles held the Grizzlies to a 5:10 stretch without a field goal.
 
After Montana cut the led to seven, the Eagles surged again with a 6-0 run and took a double-digit lead for good at the 5:43 mark. Eastern closed the half on a 10-0 run, including EWU's first 3-point attempt of the game with three seconds to play by Meadows.
 
Aiken had a huge first half with 14 points, seven rebounds, two assists, a blocked shot and a steal, and Meadows scored 13. The Eagles sank 57 percent of their shots compared to 35 percent for the Grizzlies, and Eastern more than doubled the Griz in rebounds 22-10.
 
The Eagles and Aiken continued their hot stretch to open the second half, starting it with an 8-2 run to go up by 28. Moments later, Aiken hit his third 3-pointer of the half to give EWU a 62-33 lead with 15:05 left. That matched Eastern's largest lead of the night.
 
 
Series Notes
 
* Eastern is 25-55 against the Grizzlies since becoming a member of NCAA Division I in 1983-84, including a 11-29 record in Missoula, 14-22 in Cheney and 0-4 on neutral courts. Montana leads the overall series 73-44. The Eagles had lost four in a row prior to EWU registering its first season sweep over UM since 2003. Eastern has won four of the last seven meetings in Missoula and three of the last four 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 Game Notes
 
* Eastern has now averaged 86.8 points per game during its current nine-game winning streak, while allowing 72.4 for an average winning margin of 14.3 points per game. During the streak, EWU has out-shot opponents 50.7 percent to 42.5 percent overall, and 42.0 percent to 35.1 percent from the 3-point stripe, and has made 83.8 percent from the free throw line. Eastern also has a plus 5.8 rebounding margin in those games, averaging 36.4 per game. The Eagles are 8-0 this season when they out-rebound their opponent, and 7-1 when they have at least 36 boards.
 
* Shantay Legans, the reigning Big Sky Conference Coach of the Year, is No. 3 in winning percentage in the 58-year history of the Big Sky Conference – tops among those who coached at least four seasons. After the first Montana game, he's 52-19 in four seasons for a percentage of .732. He only ranks behind Phil Johnson (Weber State 1968-71, .886, 39-5) and Kermit Davis (Idaho 1989-90, .813, 26-6), and is now ahead of Dick Motta (Weber State, 1963-68, .727, 40-15), Ron Abegglen (Weber State, 1991-99, .717, 86-34) and Travis DeCuire (Montana 2014-present, .714, 90-35). Overall, Legans is now 71-47 overall (.602) in four seasons. In school history, Ray Giacoletti (four seasons, 2000-04) currently ranks behind Legans in winning percentage overall (.580, 69-50) and is No. 2 in league games only (.707, 41-17).
 
* The Eagles, 12-6 overall and with a nine-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
 
* Eastern closes out the regular season with games versus Idaho State on Wednesday, March 3 at 6:05 p.m. Pacific time and Friday, March 5 at 12:05 p.m. Pacific at Reese Court in Cheney, Wash. The games were re-scheduled from one day later to avoid a conflict with EWU's home football opener on March 6. Idaho State is currently 7-3 in the Big Sky Conference and 12-5 overall after having games on Feb. 18 and Feb. 20 versus Montana State canceled.
 
 
More Comments from Head Coach Shantay Legans
 
On Montana Defense: "They did a good job at taking away the 3-point shot, and I thought they would. We knew we had to figure out different ways to go score the ball, and I thought we did a terrific job of getting guys inside and drives to the baskets. Travis (DeCuire) does and an amazing job with his team, and they do a good job of slowing people down. They did a good job with that, especially at the end of the game."
 
On Having Just One 3-Point Attempts in the First Half: "We just hit 11 3-pointers against them the game before and had a good percentage. We figured they would try something, but we have the best player in the league in Tanner Groves and nobody can slow him down or stop him. We kept throwing him the ball, and Kim and Mike stepped up to have terrific games. When you have players who can do things like that and change the game, it really helps. You can take away our 3-point shot, but we can throw the ball inside to Tanner and he's efficient. Kim was driving the ball to the hole and Mike can get to the rim -- Jacob Groves too. We have multiple players than can go make plays at the basket and lead this team. We have players who can do different things and they all play for each other. As a coach, that really makes your day and really makes you proud. They are listening and understanding, but the most important thing is they are playing for each other and that's all that matters."