CHENEY, Wash. — Eastern Washington (6-14, 2-5) lost to Northern Arizona (12-8, 3-4) in a hard-fought battle, falling 70-61 at home.
"They came out swinging, and we didn't respond," said head coach
Dan Monson. "We were on our heels to start the second half, and it took us 12 minutes to recover. We tried to get aggressive late, but we started doing things that don't win you games."
Mason Williams led the Eagles with 18 points, while
Andrew Cook and
Sebastian Hartmann also finished in double figures.
Emmett Marquardt and Cook each grabbed five rebounds, and
Nic McClain dished out five assists.
"The fouling at the end was unintentional, but we panicked," Monson continued. "Playing hard is one thing, but you have to be smart when you're playing hard. We made too many mental mistakes today."
As a team, Eastern struggled on the boards, being outrebounded 40-26, and shot 42.6% from the field compared to Northern Arizona's 40%. The Eagles also struggled with fouls, committing 22 to the Lumberjacks' 16.
First Half:
The game started with Northern Arizona hitting a three-pointer, but Hartmann quickly answered with a turnaround jumper for Eastern. Marquardt followed with a corner three, and McClain added a layup to tie things up at 7.
After the first media timeout, Cook found
Pavlo Dziuba for a dunk, giving the Eagles an early boost. At the 8-minute mark, Eastern went on a 7-0 run, capped by a three-pointer from Hartmann. However, Northern Arizona responded with back-to-back threes to reclaim a one-point lead at 5:05.
Heading into the final media timeout, Hartmann hit two free throws, and
Vice Zanki added a tip-in, putting Eastern ahead 27-24. After the break,
Tyler Powell drilled a deep three to extend the Eagles' lead. Cook then drove to the basket for a tough bucket with 1:24 left. Eastern led 33-30 at halftime, shooting 52% from the field and dominating inside, scoring 14 of their 33 points in the paint.
Second Half:
NAU got off to a hot start regaining the lead before Marquardt tied it back up with a layup of his own. NAU kept their foot on the pedal heading into the first media timeout of the second half, up 46-37.
Northern Arizona extended their lead to double digits after forcing the Eagles to turn it over a few times.
Mason Williams got Eastern fired up converting on a three-point play after a layup and a free throw then followed with a three form the top of the arc, cutting the lead to nine.
Northern Arizona extended their lead to 12 with 3:24 to play. Off an inbound pass from Williams, Cook hit a step back then Williams knocked down a corner three, cutting the Lumberjack lead down to seven. Williams took the game into his own hands, converting on two free throws then a three ball to bring Eastern within four. Ultimately, NAU defeated Eastern 70-61.
Up Next:
Eastern will host conference leading Northern Colorado on Saturday, Jan. 25 at 2 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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