CHENEY, Wash. — Eastern Washington (6-11, 2-2) rode a blistering performance from beyond the arc to defeat Sacramento State (5-11, 1-2), 65-54. The Eagles shot 51.9% (14-27) from three-point range and out-rebounded the Hornets 43-36 to secure the victory.
"Only giving them 15 points in the first half, we really set the tone," said head coach
Dan Monson. "The first 30-minutes was our best basketball; our guys were locked in and confident."
Emmett Marquardt led Eastern's offense with 16 points, including four three-pointers, while
Nic McClain contributed 14 points. McClain also added six rebounds, and
Mason Williams and
Tyler Powell each grabbed five boards in the win.
"Coming out of the half with an 8-0 run to go up by 28 really set a tone. I'm happy, I'm happy for our guys, we are getting better, and we have a week to get even better. Today was a good start."
First Half:
Three-pointers were the story of the first half for the Eagles, who shot 8-16 from deep. Powell connected on three triples, McClain nailed two, and both Marquardt and Williams added one each.
Sacramento State struck first with a deep three, the only score for either team in the first six minutes of play.
Angelo Winkel answered with a dunk for Eastern, and Winkel later tied the game with a free throw. However, Powell hit a three to give Eastern a 6-3 lead at the 11:51 mark.
The Eagles then began to heat up from distance. Powell hit another triple, followed by back-to-back threes from McClain to extend the lead to ten. After a Hornet timeout, Marquardt joined the party with a transition three, pushing the lead to 11. Powell hit his third three-pointer just before the media timeout, and the Eagles led 21-9.
Coming out of the timeout, Williams added another three, giving Eastern its largest lead of the first half at 15. Sacramento State managed to hit one of two free throws, narrowing the gap to 14 as the teams approached the final media timeout. McClain took advantage of a turnover to hit his third three-pointer, and the Eagles took a commanding 35-15 lead into halftime.
Second Half:
Eastern picked up where they left off, opening the second half with an 8-0 run, including two more threes from Marquardt. The Hornets attempted to respond, but Marquardt answered with his fourth three of the night to maintain Eastern's momentum.
Vice Zanki got into the action, hitting a three off an inbound pass to keep the Eagles ahead by 29.
McClain followed with another triple, pushing the lead to 54-25 with 11:09 left. Zanki hit his second three of the game to give Eastern a 34-point advantage, but Sacramento State began to chip away. The Hornets went on an 11-0 run, cutting the deficit to 23.
Sam Stockton ended the Hornets' run with a layup and an offensive rebound, putting Eastern back up by 25. In the final four minutes, Sacramento State made one last push, going on an 18-2 run to pull within nine. However, the Eagles held on to secure the 65-54 victory.
Up Next:
A week from today, the Eagles will head to Moscow, Idaho to take on the Vandals on Saturday, Jan. 18 at 4 p.m.
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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