OGDEN, Utah. — Cedric Coward earned his third double-double of the season,
Ethan Price added 5 assists to his 22 points and the Eastern Washington Eagles erased an 8-point halftime deficit to take down the Big Sky's preseason favorite Weber State Wildcats in Ogden, Utah on Thursday night. The win pushes Eastern to 10-7 on the season including a perfect 4-0 in conference play.
Eastern brought the recent Inland Northwest chill with them early in the opening frame, falling behind 21-11 and trailing by as much as 13 — their biggest deficit in a win this season — before closing the half on a 7-2 run to get it within 8. Price (12) and Coward (11) paced the offense, but it was the defense that looked most out of sorts as the Wildcats shot 17-for-30 (56.7%) from the floor and a blistering 50% (8-16) from beyond the 3-point line.
"We didn't look like we trusted each other defensively (in the 1st half)," said David Riley, who last week earned his 50th career win as head coach. "I thought we played with a lot more trust in the second."
The numbers bear that out. EWU outscored Weber State 41-31 the rest of the way, holding the Wildcats to just 9-27 FG (33.3%) and 3-15 from deep (3-15), with one of those threes coming uncontested as time expired. Adding the first four and a half minutes of the second, EWU went on a 23-7 run capped by a Coward 3 to take the lead with 15:23 left in regulation.
Coward and Price did the majority of their damage in the paint, where the Eagles led 36-26 on the night. They combined to go 17-for-23 from the field, adding 4-7 from deep. Coward led the way with 24 points, adding 10 rebounds.
"When you have big games like this — and this is a big game, Weber State is a high-level team — you need your players to step up. (Coward and Price) did that. It's been a different guy every night."
Taking down the preseason Big Sky favorites, including unanimous Preseason MVP Dillon Jones, who scored 14 points, 12 rebounds and 4 assists, was certainly a date circled on the calendar, but Riley emphasized that his veterans were quick to point out that it's still January.
"We talked about every day that this was the biggest game of the year because it's the game that happened today."
Eagle Notes
- With fellow key reserve Dane Erikstrup in foul trouble, redshirt freshman LeJuan Watts chipped in 11 points and 5 rebounds, including a key defensive board with under 30 seconds to go.
- Eastern shot 18-for-20 from the free throw line, their best percentage of the season.
- At 53.8%, EWU shot over 50% for the 8th time this year, and 5th of last six games.
- The game included three technical fouls, all against players. Watts and Erikstrup each earned one for EWU.
- G Jake Kyman had a career-best 6 assists.
Eastern has little time to rest. They'll face the Idaho State Bengals on the road on Saturday, hoping to avenge last year's 18-game winning streak-ending defeat in Pocatello. Tip is at 5 p.m. PT, 6 p.m. MT, streamed live on ESPN+ and over the radio at 700 ESPN / The Varsity Network.
Eastern's next home game is Thursday, Jan. 25 vs. Northern Colorado, followed by EWU Alumni and Family Day on Saturday, Jan. 27 as the Eags host Northern Arizona. T-shirt and ticket packages are available. Tickets for those games and all EWU Athletics competitions are available at goeags.com/tickets.
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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