At Monday's practice, “I told the guys congratulations,” coach Jim Hayford said of Eastern Washington’s 98-95 overtime win over Idaho, in which the his team overcame a 17-point deficit with 8 ½ minutes left.

“Then I told them to work on the things we have to do to make us better,” said Hayford, whose club plays a key Big Sky Conference game at Montana on Thursday.

Despite the win, the Eagles fell one spot in today's RPI.

The win over Idaho came despite injuries to the Eagles’ two leading scorers, forward Venky Jois and guard Tyler Harvey. In his first action since suffering an ankle injury on Jan. 15 at Portland State, Jois finished with seven points and two rebounds in 23 minutes of action, but made a game-saving block against the Vandals Mike Scott at the end of the game.

Harvey, still the national scoring leader with a 23.6-point average, suffered a contusion, or bruise, in his right quadricep late in the first half. He returned, but left the game for good with 7:31 to play.

Hayford said that Harvey’s injury is “considerably better,” but he didn’t practice Monday morning. He’s expected to play when the Eagles (7-1 Big Sky, 16-5 overall) visit Montana.

Meanwhile, point guard Drew Brandon is a Big Sky Conference co-player of the week after he scored 18 points with 10 assists, nine rebounds, two blocked shots and a steal against the Vandals. He also made a layup at the buzzer of regulation to send the game into overtime.

 

 

 

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