CHENEY, Wash. — Eastern Washington head coach
David Riley had his first opportunity to huddle up with his team just under five minutes into the first half, already down by 10 points to 9-3 Portland State. Out of that media timeout, the Eagles put together their most complete performance of the season, thundering back with a 20-2 run on their way to a 91-57 rout of the Vikings and a 1-0 start to Big Sky Conference play.
"We could've drawn the start up a little better," Riley noted with a smile after the game.
Led by Cedric Coward's 15 — 13 of which came during the 20-2 run — the Eagles closed the first half with a 46-27 advantage, shooting 16-for-27 from the floor (59.3%) and 7-for-11 from beyond the 3-point line (57.9%). Coward finished with 21 points to pace the team, with help from junior Dane Erikstrup's season-high 18 and 12 apiece from forwards Ethan Price and LeJuan Watts.
In fact, it was that final trio that put together perhaps the highlight of the night as Erikstrup tipped away a Viking pass — for one of his career-best 5 steals — which Price corralled and dribbled the length of the floor before dishing to Watts streaking down the right wing for a spectacular one-handed jam, making it 67-43 midway through the second.
Eastern led by as much as 37 down the stretch and the Vikings never got closer than 19 in the second half.
"It just shows how good we can be. Our practices have been really intense. We played 10 guys today and all 10 of them probably deserve more minutes. These guys are competing their butts off."
As eye-popping as the offensive numbers are, the Eagle defense made the biggest impact. EWU forced 21 PSU turnovers and allowed just 6 assists against; PSU came into the contest ranked 2nd in the Big Sky in turnover margin and assist/turnover ratio. Strong ball handlers, they averaged just 10 giveaways a game with a season-high of 14.
"I know we're going to score points. We've got a bunch of talented shooters and scorers but this team is the most talented defensive team I've coached. We have the potential to win a championship on that end."
The game marked the beginning of Eastern's conference schedule after a grueling non-conference slate that included nine road games and seven games against high-major programs, including five at Pac-12 schools. Their schedule was ranked fourth-toughest in the entire NCAA.
"We've been working really hard this whole preseason. We faced a uniquely challenging schedule to start and put these guys to the fire, got our foundation exposed in every way. That's the beauty of doing that. It's paying dividends now. We hopefully made a statement to our guys and the rest of the Big Sky that we're ready… we can't make too much of this. We've got a long way to go. We're 1-0."
Eastern continues their Big Sky schedule on Saturday against the Sacramento State Hornets. The Eagles have won seven of the last eight against Sac State and are 26-4 all-time when playing the Hornets at home.
Eagle notes:
- G Ellis Magnuson tied his season-high with 6 assists, moving into 9th on Eastern's all-time career list with 316. EWU Hall of Famer Alvin Snow is 8th at 318.
- Eastern assisted on 19 of their 31 made field goals.
- After 12 turnovers in the first half, EWU only made 3 the rest of the way, finishing with 15.
- Eastern shot 18-of-22 from the free throw line.
- EWU held PSU to 40% shooting (20-50) including just 4-18 from 3 (22.2%).
- F LeJuan Watts finished just 1 stat away from a double-double for the second-straight game, recording 12 points and 9 rebounds. He scored 9 points and 11 rebounds at Washington on Dec. 21.
- G Nic McClain got on the floor for the first time since the season-opener at Utah. The transfer from Daytona State College was out with a lower-body injury.
- Eight different Eagles played 20+ minutes.
- The margin of victory (+34) is tied for the 3rd-largest in a Big Sky Conference game in program history and largest since 2006. Eastern beat Montana State by the same 34-point margin in 2006, beat Idaho State by 42 in 2005 and Sacramento State by 45 in 1999.
Eastern's next home game is Saturday, Dec. 30 against the Sacramento State Hornets. It will be another Holiday Hoops Game, with free admission to kids 12 and under. Season tickets for EWU men's and women's basketball are also available and start as low as $100!
Tickets for basketball and all EWU Athletics events are available at goeags.com/tickets or via the EWU Athletics Ticket Office at 509-359-6059.
ABOUT EASTERN WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY ATHLETICS
Eastern Washington University Athletics sponsors 14 intercollegiate sports, six for men and eight for women, both as learning opportunities for its most athletically talented students and as an enhancement to student and community life. Eastern is affiliated with Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and is a member of the Big Sky Conference, an association of 10 regional schools with comparable enrollments and academic goals.
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