SPOKANE, Wash. – Eastern Washington battled to the finish but ultimately fell to Washington State, 78–63, Wednesday night in Spokane during the 509 Classic.
Alton Hamilton IV led the Eagles with 16 points, while
Isaiah Moses added 15 and
Jojo Anderson chipped in 12. Moses paced Eastern with five assists, and Hamilton led the team on the glass with five rebounds. As a team, Eastern shot 38 percent from the field compared to Washington State's 52 percent and was outrebounded 41–27.
Washington State jumped out to an early 5–0 lead before
Kiree Huie broke through with a contested layup to put Eastern on the board. The Eagles responded with strong defensive energy, forcing three straight stops heading into the first media timeout. Coming out of the break, however, the Cougars found their rhythm and used an 8–2 run to extend the lead. Eastern converted a pair of free throws but went nearly six minutes without a field goal before Powell battled inside for a tough layup.
With nine minutes remaining in the first half, Eastern trailed by 14 before Hamilton and Anderson began to spark the offense. Hamilton knocked down a deep jumper, then followed with a corner three on the next possession. The Eagles continued to chip away, cutting the deficit to 10 with 6:57 left after baskets from Moses, Huie, and
Straton Rogers. Washington State answered quickly, rebuilding a 16-point cushion. Eastern headed into halftime trailing 45–31 after a last-second putback by Powell.
Hamilton came out aggressive in the second half, scoring Eastern's first six points to keep pace with the Cougar offense. Washington State answered with a wide-open three at the top of the key to push the lead back to 16, before Rogers connected from deep to trim the margin to 13.
With 10 minutes remaining, Eastern trailed 64–48 when
Elijah Thomas came up with a steal and finished with a dunk on the other end to inject energy. Washington State continued to roll, stretching the lead to 19, but the Eagles refused to fold. Eastern responded with a 9–2 run to pull within 12 with 3:47 left. Anderson followed with back-to-back free throws to cut the deficit to 10—the closest the Eagles had been since the first half—before Huie brought Eastern within single digits. The Cougars, however, answered once more, pushing the lead back to 13 and closing out the 78–63 victory.
Up Next
Eastern Washington heads to Utah for a two-game road swing, beginning with a matchup against Utah on Saturday, Dec. 20 at 4:00 p.m. (PST), followed by a meeting with BYU in Provo on Monday, Dec. 22 at 6:00 p.m. (PST).
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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