GREELEY, Colo. — Cedric Coward poured in a career-high 30 points and
Ethan Price scored the 1,000th in his career as part of a double-double to lead the Eastern Washington Eagles (18-10, 11-4 Big Sky) to an important 85-76 win over second-place Northern Colorado (17-11, 10-5 Big Sky) on the road on Saturday night. The win snaps a two-game skid for EWU, who is now ahead by two games for first place with three remaining in the regular season.
"It shows the character we've got. Not only coming into the game after two losses but being down 12 about 12 minutes in," said head coach David Riley. "We had a good huddle led by our players. Ethan was talking about 'whatever is going to happen offensively doesn't matter, we've got to get stops,' and I thought our guys bought into that."
They certainly did. Down 12 with 7:49 remaining in the opening frame, the Eagle defense locked in on the high-powered Bears, holding them to 34% shooting the rest of the way. Saint Thomas, who leads the conference in scoring, finished with 16 points on 5-of-14 from the floor.
"(UNC) a talented offensive team," Riley continued. "It shows the heart of our guys. The heart of a champion, if you want to get cliche on it. So proud of our guys for coming into a tough place to play. We talked about how every game from here on out is a championship game."
Coward hit four-straight Eastern baskets, including three 3's, to cut the deficit to 4 points with under five minutes to go. Dane Erikstrup converted a layup with 37 seconds left and Casey Jones hit a free throw just before the break to tie the game at 43 apiece — the first halftime tie faced by EWU this season.
Price hit his 1,000th point on a turnaround jumper early, but his biggest impact came on the glass, where he secured 10 rebounds for his first double-double of the season (12 points, 10 rebounds) and third of his EWU career. Eastern finished with a narrow edge in overall rebounds, 37-36.
"You can say so much about Ethan Price as a player and what he does on the court, but what he does as a leader is some of the best I've ever seen," Riley added. "...just reminding our guys about stops, our defense and keeping our guys locked in. Our focus has been an issue, so to see our guys come in like that, that's a huge credit to Ethan Price.
After a quick outburst by the Bears to start the second, Erikstrup sank a corner triple and fellow impact reserve LeJuan Watts hit a three of his own to give EWU a 55-52 lead they never relinquished.
Coward made three consecutive baskets again late to push a 74-72 lead to 78-72, then put an exclamation point on the evening with a two-handed slam late to give him his first career 30-point game. He added 6 rebounds, an assist and a block. He scored 12 in Thursday's loss at Northern Arizona on 6-for-14 shooting, including 0-for-6 from 3.
"I knew (Coward) was going to have a big game. The kid always responds. He's got some of the highest character I've ever seen from a player. He took so much ownership in the film session yesterday morning and really took it upon himself to be more solid.
"Down the stretch, he was really focused on our team. He was confident and it's really cool to see a kid like that bounce back."
The Eagles will put that team focus to the test when they return home next week for their final two home games of the season, hosting Montana on Thursday before Senior Night versus Montana State on Saturday. A win on Thursday would clinch the regular season title. Get tickets at goeags.com.
Eastern's next home game is Thursday, Feb. 29 vs. Montana, followed by the regular season home finale on Saturday, March 2 vs. Montana State. Tickets for both of 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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