Eastern Washington sets out to write different plot

When all else fails, laugh.

That’s what Eastern Washington University men’s basketball coach Mike Burns was trying to do Friday when the Eagles had nothing to laugh about.

The Eagles lost at Boise State 78-67 Wednesday night. Instead of flying home Thursday morning, fog forced Eastern to bus. The expected arrival at 11:30 a.m. Thursday became 1:30 a.m. Friday.

“It was John Candy, Steve Martin, ‘Planes, Trains and Automobiles,’ ” Burns said, referring to the old comedic movie. “It got to the point it was so frustrating it was funny, so I guess that was good.”

Not much else has been good lately for the Eagles (2-6), who have lost four straight games. In the last three they’ve played as if they were in a fog when the second half started, getting outscored 27-0 in the opening minutes.

The Eagles will try to clear things up against Denver, which defeated EWU 80-64 on the road last month, tonight. Tip-off at Reese Court is 7:05.

It’s certainly not a laughable situation, especially with injury problems to compound the matter.

“We’ve started nine different guys and I don’t know how many different lineup combinations,” Burns said. “It makes it hard to have a flow about you when that’s going on. One guy has started every game and that’s Marc (Axton, senior forward and the team’s leading scorer at 18.3 points per game). … We’ve got to do something to change the first five minutes of the second half. That’s been a thorn in our side the last three outings.”

Sophomore forward Matt Nelson was to see an orthopedic surgeon Friday to determine when he will be able to return from a broken hand. Sophomore wing Henry Bekkering remains day-to-day since injuring a shoulder in the season’s opening week.

Denver (4-3), coming off a 56-52 home loss to Pac-10 power Stanford, features Ferris grad Erik Benzel (13 ppg), a senior guard.