CHENEY, Wash. — Eastern Washington men's basketball put on a high-flying show in its home opener Friday night, cruising to a 102-68 victory over Corban at Reese Court. The Eagles delivered a highlight-filled performance, throwing down dunk after dunk while leading for 37 minutes and building an advantage as large as 43 points.
Isak Homelius led Eastern with a game-high 20 points and two rebounds, shooting 7-of-10 from the field and an impressive 4-of-5 from beyond the arc.
Cole Scherer added 15 points and four rebounds, while
Jamil Miller chipped in 14 points and three boards. Eastern controlled the glass with a 41-29 rebounding advantage and forced 15 Corban turnovers.
"They competed. I thought we played a pretty good first half overall, both our first five and our second five, but it got sloppy in the second half," said Associate Head Coach
Ryan Lundgren. "When we have a chance to be at home and get a win at home in front of our fans, we also have to enjoy that, but not get complacent and make sure that we're continuing to get better."
Scherer got the Eagles rolling early, attacking the rim for Eastern's first two baskets of the night.
Lance Horntvedt Jr. provided the first highlight with a thunderous two-handed dunk in transition, followed by a Homelius three-pointer that gave Eastern an 11-4 advantage heading into the first media timeout.
The Eagles continued to pour on the offense as
Malachi Richmond and Miller helped extend the lead. Richmond connected with Miller on a highlight-reel alley-oop, bringing the Reese Court crowd to its feet. Eastern dominated the opening 20 minutes, shooting a blistering 72.7 percent from the floor and 55.6 percent from three-point range to take a commanding 58-24 lead into halftime.
Corban opened the second half looking to chip away at the deficit, trimming Eastern's lead to 29 points at 63-34. Miller quickly answered with another emphatic fast-break dunk, keeping the Eagles firmly in control.
Eastern continued to showcase its offensive firepower as Homelius knocked down back-to-back three-pointers to extend the advantage.
Jalen Griffith, Miller and Scherer kept the offense rolling down the stretch, while Horntvedt Jr. delivered another crowd-pleasing dunk to push the Eagles to the century mark.
Lundgren praised the contributions of Eastern's younger players, who have stepped into larger roles early in the season.
"It's also been really good for our young guys and some of our deeper in the bench guys to get some of these valuable minutes early on," Lundgren said. "I think it'll serve us well as the season progresses."
The Eagles finished shooting an impressive 66.7 percent (42-of-63) from the field and 55 percent from beyond the arc while holding Corban to just 32.3 percent shooting. Eastern dominated inside with 58 points in the paint, capitalized on turnovers for 27 points and recorded nine steals. The Eagles also dished out 25 assists, showcasing their growing offensive chemistry.
"This group's finding confidence and some continuity," Lundgren said. "They're sharing the ball, and even though we didn't lose anybody at the portal, we also have a lot of new faces still, and it takes time to have those guys mesh and gel together."
Up Next
Eastern Washington returns to the road to face Utah in Salt Lake City, Utah, on Tuesday, Nov. 17 at 5:30 p.m.
"I think a big key for us is if we can rebound with them and we can defend, it'll give us a really good chance to compete down there and have a shot to win," Lundgren said. "Our big focus going in has got to be winning those first four minutes and then just kind of progressing from there."
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.
FOLLOW THE EAGLES
SOCIAL: Twitter | Facebook | YouTube | Instagram
Follow the Big Sky Conference (@BigSkyConf) on X, Facebook, Instagram, Threads, Blue Sky and TikTok for all the latest news around the league and use the hashtag #ExperienceElevated.
