POCATELLO, Idaho — Balanced scoring, timely defense and a 17-0 second half run pushed the Eastern Washington Eagles to a 79-67 win over the Idaho State Bengals in Pocatello on Saturday night.
The victory completes the weekend road sweep for EWU as they took down preseason Big Sky Conference favorite Weber State on Thursday. At 11-7 overall and a blemish-free 5-0 in league play, the Eagles maintained their position atop the Big Sky standings.
"It was a big week for us to get a sweep on the road," said head coach David Riley. "Those are two really good teams."
Eastern shot the ball extremely well all night, finishing 29-for-49 (59.2%) overall including 9-for-16 from beyond the 3-point arc. Every Eagle who entered the game scored at least once, with five players in double figures.
"We were patient offensively. We weren't taking the first good one, passing that up for the great one."
The Bengals managed to hang around for the first half and start of the second mostly thanks to offensive rebounds, of which they secured 13 to EWU's 5. Despite the extra possessions for ISU, a powerful 17-0 run early in the second put Eastern in control for good, pushing the lead out to as much as 20 at 62-42.
Eastern also stayed out of foul trouble, sending the Bengals to the free throw line just twice.
ISU got it within 10 late but never closer. EWU has now won 5 of the last 6 and 11 of the last 14 in the all-time head-to-head series. The Bengals snapped the Eagles' historic 18-game winning streak last season, in Eastern's last visit to Pocatello.
Forward Ethan Price led the Eags in scoring with 16, adding 4 rebounds, 2 assists and a block. Cedric Coward, who posted a 24-point, 10-rebound double-double on Thursday, finished with 12 points, 8 boards, 3 blocks, an assist and a steal while achieving a perfect shooting night — 3-3 FG, 1-1 3PT, 5-5 FT. Jake Kyman, Casey Jones and Dane Erikstrup also scored over 10.
EWU's next game will be a big one as they host the second-place Northern Colorado Bears on Thursday, Jan. 25 at Reese Court in Cheney. UNC sits at 4-1 in conference and boasts the league's most prolific offense, averaging over 80 points per game. Tip-off will be at 6 p.m.
Eagle Notes
- Eastern shot 12-for-13 from the free throw line, marking their second-straight game at 90+%.
- G Ellis Magnuson recorded 6 assists, matching his season high and moving him into 6th in EWU history at 342 for his career.
- David Riley is now tied for 4th in EWU history with 32 career Big Sky coaching wins. His stands along in EWU's NCAA Division I history at 52 overall wins.
- With 3 blocks, Coward now has 11 over his last 4 games.
- The win was Eastern's seventh in a row. They are 10-1 in December and January combined.
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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