Scott, Eagles Astonish Mustangs Eastern Guard Scores 36 Points As Once-Lowly Team Goes To 3-0

There hasn’t been much reason for chest thumping among members of Eastern Washington’s men’s basketball team over the past several seasons.

Which is exactly why Karim Scott wasn’t about to engage in any such post-game nonsense at Reese Court Tuesday night, despite scoring a career-high 36 points and making seven steals in the Eagles’ 93-75 non-conference rout of Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo.

“Hey, we won seven games last year. I’m not going to pat myself on the back,” Scott said shortly after learning he had put together the fifth-highest single-game point total in Eastern history. “It’s a long season.”

But if the Eagles (3-0) can continue to build on their best start since 1985-86, it might be one worth remembering.

“I’m just so happy for our kids to start the season like this,” said thirdyear coach Steve Aggers, who would like nothing better than to snap Eastern’s run of seven consecutive losing seasons.

“Kareem had a monster game for us. He’s just so active and he plays so hard. It was really a complete game for him tonight.”

Aggers would certainly get no argument over his evaluation from Cal Poly coach Jeff Schneider, who watched his small, perimeter-oriented Mustangs team get hammered unmercifully on the outside and lose for the first time in four games.

Along with Scott’s huge output, the Eagles got 18 points from shooting guard Shannon Taylor and 17 points and eight assists from sophomore point guard Deon Williams.

Eastern’s starting perimeter players outscored Schneider’s 71-30 - a fact that didn’t set well with the former Washington State assistant.

“Scott, Taylor and Williams; that’s three outstanding perimeter players,” Schneider said. “We have one of the top two or three back courts in the Big West Conference, and we’ve never been handled like that.”

The Mustangs came in averaging 10 3-point field goals a game, but managed to hit only three of 17 against Eastern’s aggressive, denying defense that contested every pass - even the simple guard-to-guard exchange.

In addition, they turned the ball over 18 times as Eastern seemed to welcome the challenge of playing up-tempo and applying full-court defensive pressure.

It was five Mustang turnovers that helped spark a 12-0 Eagle run and decide the issue shortly after halftime. Scott, who scored on dunks, tip-in, lay-ins and jump shots from all ranges, scored four points and made three steals during that span as Eastern padded its already comfortable 48-33 halftime lead.

“That’s something that’s usually the other way around, with us forcing the turnovers,” Schneider said. “Our pressure has really bothered people, but it did not bother them.” Freshman center Chris Bjorklund scored a career-high 31 points for Cal Poly and sophomore guard Mike Wozniak added 23.

Eastern will try to match its 4-0 start of 1985-86 Saturday afternoon when it travels to Waco, Texas, for its first road test of the young season against Baylor.

E. Washington 93, Cal Poly-SLO 75

CAL POLY-SAN LUIS OBISPO (3-1) - Fleming 1-3 2-4 4, Ketcham 1-4 0-2 3, Bjorklund 11-19 9-11 31, Larson 1-4 0-0 3, Wozniak 6-19 11-12 23, Kinner 0-0 0-0 0, Porter 0-1 0-0 0, Favors 3-10 2-2 9, Mayes 0-1 0-0 0, Washington 0-2 2-2 2. Totals 23-63 26-33 75.

EASTERN WASHINGTON (3-0) - Berger 3-6 0-0 6, Scott 16-20 4-6 36, Humbert 3-4 5-8 11, Williams 6-14 5-9 17, Taylor 6-14 4-4 18, Stone 0-0 0-0 0, McGee 0-2 0-0 0, Claus 0-0 0-0 0, Sims 0-3 0-2 0, M. Lewis 0-3 1-2 1, K. Lewis 1-3 0-0 2, White 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 36-70 19-31 93.

Halftime-E. Washington 48, Cal Poly-SLO 33. 3-Point goals- Cal Poly-SLO 3-17 (Ketcham 1-3, Larson 1-3, Wozniak 0-5, Porter 0-1, Favors 1-5), E. Washington 2-10 (Williams 0-2, Taylor 2-6, McGee 0-1, M. Lewis 0-1). Fouled out-Cal Poly-SLO, Favors. Rebounds-Cal Poly-SLO 38 (Ketcham, Bjorklund, Favors 7), E. Washington 46 (Berger, Scott, Humbert 7). Assists- Cal Poly-SLO 9 (Wozniak 4), E. Washington 21 (Williams 8). Total fouls-Cal Poly-SLO 26, E. Washington 26. A-990.

Big Sky picks

Eagle Eastern Washington’s Karim Scott, who helped the Eagles open their men’s basketball season with a pair of victories, is the first Big Sky Conference player of the week.

Scott, a senior forward from Fresno, Calif., averaged 16 points and seven rebounds as the Eagles beat Sam Houston State and San Diego State. Scott also had nine steals.

San Diego 73, N. Arizona 68

At Flagstaff, Ariz., Alex Parker snagged three steals that San Diego converted into seven points, breaking a tie with less than five minutes to go and pressing on for a 73-68 victory over Northern Arizona Tuesday night.

The Lumberjacks had led most of the time going into the early second half, including 40-32 at the break, but a 16-2 San Diego run gave the Toreros an eight-point edge with 11:21 remaining.

Three straight 3-pointers brought Northern Arizona back into the game, but San Diego outshot the Lumberjacks 52 percent to 48 percent overall.

San Diego’s Ryan Williams led all scorers with 18 points, and Parker added 14.

, DataTimes