Strait levels EWU

MISSOULA – Andrew Strait scored 20 points and grabbed nine rebounds Thursday night to put Montana past Eastern Washington 80-61 in Big Sky Conference men’s basketball at Dahlberg Arena.

Strait finished 8 for 8 from the field and 4 for 4 from the free-throw line for the Grizzlies (8-11, 2-4). He was one of five Montana players to reach double figures. Jordan Hasquet scored 16 points and led the team with 10 rebounds, while Ryan Staudacher added 14 points. Brian Qvale had 12 points and Matt Martin had 10.

Shooting was the difference in the game. The Grizzlies, who led 43-33 at the break, shot 61 percent from the field compared to 38 percent shooting by the Eagles (8-13, 3-4).

First-year EWU coach Kirk Earlywine was ejected from the game early in the second half for consecutive technical fouls. The Eagles responded well to the ejection, pulling to within 56-48 on a pair of free throws by Adris DeLeon with 12 minutes remaining.

But Montana shut down Eastern’s rally with an 11-0 run to put the game away. Montana built a 20-point lead with 7:41 remaining.

DeLeon led EWU with 19 points. He was just 4 of 13 from the field but made all nine of his free throws. Kellen Williams added 13 points, but the 6-foot-4 power forward had a season-low three rebounds after entering the game third in the Big Sky with an 8.9 average.

Montana finished with a 36-15 rebounding edge.

Eastern is 0-3 on the road in conference games and 2-10 overall away from Reese Court.

Montana, the media’s preseason choice to win the conference, had lost nine of its previous 11 games.