CHENEY, Wash. — Eastern Washington (5-11, 1-2) suffered a tough 64-59 loss to Portland State (9-6, 1-1), despite a strong late-game effort from
Andrew Cook.
"We just didn't have the toughness or the experience or whatever it is to finish," said head coach
Dan Monson. "We did well in stretches today, but you can't go on the road and play in stretches, you got to be consistent."
The Eagles were led by Cook and
Mason Williams, who each scored 12 points, while
Sebastian Hartmann added 10. On the defensive end,
Vice Zanki paced the team with seven rebounds, while Williams contributed six. The team finished with 36 rebounds and 11 assists, tying Portland State in both categories.
"We had 15 straight stops and held them scoreless for nine minutes and loss, that doesn't happen to often but we have having issues having both good defensive and good offensive games on the same night."
First Half:
Eastern struggled out of the gate, with Portland State opening the scoring with a three-pointer. The Eagles responded quickly, as Hartmann and
Nic McClain each converted layups to give Eastern a brief lead. However, the Vikings regained control with back-to-back three-pointers, pushing their advantage to 18-7.
The Eagles began to find their rhythm, going on a 6-0 run fueled by three consecutive layups, closing the gap to 18-13. Portland State went cold for nearly eight minutes, allowing Eastern to continue its run. After a timeout, McClain converted an "and-one" play, and
Emmett Marquardt tied the game at 18 with a layup.
With 5:03 left in the half, McClain gave Eastern its first lead of the game with a contested layup. The Vikings ended their nine-minute scoring drought and halted the Eagles' 13-0 run with a basket of their own. Marquardt quickly answered with a three-pointer from the top of the arc, and Zanki added a pull-up jumper with one minute remaining to give Eastern a four-point advantage. At the break, the Eagles led 29-24.
Second Half:
Eastern continued to build on its momentum out of halftime, scoring back-to-back baskets to stretch the lead to nine points. However, Portland State found its rhythm, going on an 8-0 run to tie the game at 35.
From there, the game went back and forth, with the Vikings briefly taking a three-point lead with 10 minutes remaining. Zanki responded with a clutch three-pointer to tie the game at 45. Portland State then hit two consecutive three-pointers to regain a six-point lead, forcing Eastern to call a timeout.
Cook then caught fire for the Eagles, scoring Eastern's next eight points to reclaim the lead with 2:08 remaining. With the game tied at 59 with less than a minute to play, the Vikings hit a go-ahead bucket to take a 61-59 lead. Eastern had a chance to answer, but was denied at the rim, then fouled Portland State. A traveling violation on the ensuing possession sealed the Eagles' fate, as Portland State held on for the 64-59 victory.
Up Next:
The Eagles will head to Sacramento State on Saturday, Jan. 11, at 1 p.m., to cap off their weekend road trip.
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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