CHENEY, Wash. — On a night when their leading scorer found himself in foul trouble and the shots from outside just weren't falling, the first-place Eastern Washington Eagles (12-7, 6-0 Big Sky) on Thursday night, holding off the second-place Northern Colorado Bears (11-8, 4-2), 77-74. The win gives the Eagles a two-game lead in the Big Sky standings as they remain the only team unbeaten in conference play.
It's hard to point to one player who led the way for Eastern on the night. Five players scored in double figures but none had more than Dane Erikstrup's 16. The Eags finished 28-for-59 from the floor (47.5%) but only 6-for-26 from 3-point range (23.1%), their worst mark from deep since Dec. 21 at Washington State. The Eagle bench outscored UNC 33-8, showcasing their depth and balance in scoring.
"A big key for us is to make (the other team) work," said head coach David Riley. "We're an offense that is very evenly distributed, so we know we've got to attack guys like Saint Thomas, guys like Jaron Rillie, and make them work on the defensive end… if you've got to wrestle with Cedric and LeJuan down on the post for 40 minutes, that's tiring."
Thomas, who leads the Big Sky in scoring and has five times been named Big Sky Player of the Week, had just 5 points in limited minutes in the first half after picking up three fouls. He opened the second half on fire, scoring 10 points in the first five minutes to cut the Eagle lead to three, and finished with 20 points on the night. Australian guard Jaron Rillie led all scorers with 26 (on 10-for-17 shooting), but they were the only two Bears in double figures.
After each push by UNC to cut the home lead to a single possession, Eastern seemed to find a mismatch to exploit down low, with 17 of their 28 made baskets coming as a layup or dunk. That physical play also got the crowd into the game as Thursday was the first chance for the Eagle men to play at home since students returned from winter break.
"It was cool to have the crowd going like that, yelling and getting (UNC) to miss free throws. Our guys have really battled this season and been through a lot of adversity."
The win was Eastern's eighth in a row — the seventh-longest streak in the country at the moment — catching familiar attention after last year's 18-game win streak preceded a disappointing early exit in the Big Sky Tournament.
"We're just trying to stay in the moment. Our big thing is that we want to do things the right way. We talked at practice this week that we're going to win this game against Northern Colorado on Tuesday… that's the reality. When we keep doing the right thing, we're going to be playing our best ball in March. We want to go to the dance."
The Eags look to make it nine in a row on Saturday as they host Northern Arizona — the team that bounced them in the quarterfinals of the conference tournament — for a 1 p.m. tipoff.
Eagle Notes
- Eastern had four or more players in double figures scoring for the fifth game in a row.
- G Ellis Magnuson led the team with 6 assists, marking the 11th time this season he has either tied for the lead or led outright.
- Leading scorer Cedric Coward, who missed most of the first half with foul trouble, finished with 7 points, his first game under 10 since Dec. 21 at Washington.
Eastern's next home game is Saturday, January 27 vs. Northern Arizona. Tip-off is scheduled for 1 p.m. It will be Alumni & Family Day at Reese Court Field in Cheney. Tickets for that game 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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