CHENEY, Wash. – Eastern Washington (9-16, 5-7) secured a 72-67 victory over Portland State (14-10, 6-5), completing the weekend sweep behind a career-best performance by
Tyler Powell.
"It was very gratifying to watch them out fight somebody," said head coach
Dan Monson. "Portland State has some junk yard dogs; they will scratch, and claw and our guys went toe-to-toe with them tonight."
Powell and
Mason Williams led the Eagles with 17 points each, the only Eastern players to reach double figures. Powell was perfect from the field, going 7-7, including 2-2 from three. Williams also led the team on the boards, collecting six rebounds, while
Sebastian Hartmann grabbed five, and Angelo Winkle pulled down four.
"Tyler and Elijah have the best attitudes on the team. They have sacrificed their own games for their teammates, they are great on the bench and great in practice. I always say if you play hard and have a good attitude, the basketball gods will finally reward you, and both those kids got rewarded today."
As a team, Eastern shot 51% from the field and 35.3% from beyond the arc. The Eagles dominated the bench scoring battle, outscoring Portland State 25-0.
First Half:
Portland State struck first, but Eastern quickly responded with a layup from
Emmett Marquardt and a three-pointer from
Elijah Thomas. Winkle then stole the ball and converted a contested layup on the other end. For every bucket Eastern made, the Vikings had an answer until the Eagles extended their lead to six after Cook made both free throws from a flagrant foul committed by Portland State.
However, the Vikings came charging back, scoring five unanswered points to cut the lead to one with 9:13 left in the half. Marquardt ended the run with a three-pointer off an inbound pass from Cook.
Sam Stockton added to the momentum, intercepting a Portland inbound pass and converting a fast-break layup.
After the final media timeout, the Eagles held a seven-point lead. Portland State came out of the break on a mission, knocking down three shots and a free throw to pull within one with 1:35 remaining. With just one second left in the half, Williams delivered a clutch buzzer-beater three-pointer, giving EWU a 41-35 advantage heading into the break.
Second Half:
Portland State came out of halftime ready to battle, cutting Eastern's lead to just one point within three minutes. The teams exchanged baskets, with Eastern holding on to a slight five-point lead. The Vikings capitalized on a three-point play, narrowing the gap to three.
With 8:47 left in the game, Portland tied the score at 54-54, but Powell quickly responded with a five-point swing, including a three-pointer, giving the Eagles a 59-54 lead. Portland State fired back with back-to-back buckets to pull within one, and the Vikings took the lead at 5:17 after a second-chance layup.
Powell regained his shooting touch, hitting his second three of the half to tie the game and then putting the Eagles back on top with a layup on the next possession.
Nic McClain came up big with a steal and converted a reverse layup with 1:40 remaining, giving Eastern a five-point lead.
With 46 seconds left, the Vikings closed the gap to three and got a stop on the other end but committed a costly double-dribble violation, returning possession to the Eagles with 16.5 seconds remaining. With 3.1 seconds left, Portland had one last chance at the line, down three, but missed both free throws. Williams sealed the win for Eastern, hitting free throws with 1 second left, giving the Eagles a 72-67 victory.
Up Next:
The Eagles (9-16, 5-7) will face Idaho in a doubleheader on Saturday, February 15, at approximately 4 p.m., following the women's game.
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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