CHENEY, Wash. — Fifth-year guard
Ellis Magnuson set a new Eastern Washington all-time record for games played and the Eagles (16-9, 10-1 Big Sky) gritted out an 87-79 win over the rival Idaho Vandals (9-15, 3-8 Big Sky) in Cheney on Saturday afternoon, earning the season sweep over their travel partner from the south.
"It's interesting, we've played so many close games with Idaho, I think it's a great rivalry," said head coach David Riley. "You can see it in both games at Idaho and in Cheney. The crowd was great… a little different energy and it means a lot. It shows where our programs are both on the men's side and the women's side to get that sweep."
The Eagle women opened the doubleheader with a 62-52 win, earning a season sweep of their own to give EWU a 4-0 year against Idaho.
Magnuson, out of Borah High School in Boise, has now seen more of those games than probably anyone over the years. With his start on Saturday, he leaped over former Big Sky MVP and then-conference-leading all-time scorer Bogdan Bliznyuk (2015-18), and now sits alone in first with 139 career games under his belt. He finished with a season-high 8 points and 7 assists to just 1 turnover. He was presented with a unique commemorative trophy — one of his own basketball shoes encased in a glass box — before the game.
"He's just such an unbelievable teammate, he's been such a big part of this program (and) put his stamp on it in so many ways," Riley continued. "He's worn those damn shoes his whole career, those same ones. They don't even make them anymore. We've got to get them on eBay. He's a unique person so we wanted to give him something that represented that."
Tied at 46-46 two minutes into the second half, it was Magnuson's fellow fifth-year senior guard Jake Kyman that stepped up at the right time, as the Wyoming transfer scored the Eagles' next eight points to give them a 7-point lead. He hit his third 3-pointer of the night to push the lead to 11 with 11:25 remaining.
"It felt great. I work on it every day, just trying to get those shots up and make sure they're going in," Kyman said after the game. After a dry spell in early January, Kyman has now posted 10+ points in six of the last seven games and hit 11 of his last 18 from beyond the arc.
The Vandals, under first-year head coach Alex Pribble, continued to execute their offense, cutting the EWU lead all the way to 1 at 68-69 before EWU's leading scorer Cedric Coward chipped in 2 of his 15 points and junior Ethan Price punctuated an 8-point surge with an and-1 to make it 79-70. Price finished with a game-high 22.
Idaho put together one final push to get within 2 points with a minute to go, but Kyman hit his biggest shot of the night for the dagger, sinking a corner 3 to force late-game fouls.
Eagle Notes
- Magnuson is the second Eagle to break their program games played record this season. Milly Knowles set a new women's basketball mark earlier this month.
- Magnuson's 7 assists mark the 3rd game in a row with 6+.
- Eastern only had three players in double figures. They've had 4+ now in 6 of their last 8 games.
- EWU is now 13-1 against conference opponents at Reese Court over the last two seasons.
- Eastern shot 53.6% overall, their best FG% since they shot 59.2% at Idaho State on Jan. 20.
- Coward finished just 2 rebounds shy of a double-double with 15 points and 8 rebounds, adding 2 assists, 4 blocks and 3 steals.
The Eags remain home on Thursday, Feb. 15 when they host Weber State at 6 p.m. EWU beat the Wildcats in their first matchup this season, 80-78 on the road on Jan. 18.
Eastern's next home games are Thursday, Feb. 15 and Saturday, Feb. 17 against Idaho State and Weber State. Tickets for those games 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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