Moore’s efforts give EWU hope
His Eagles have lost six straight and played themselves into eighth place in the Big Sky Conference standings, but Eastern Washington coach Kirk Earlywine remains upbeat heading into tonight’s 7:05 matchup against Sacramento State at Reese Court.
For openers, the Eagles have played better of late, and had chances to win late in last week’s road losses to Montana State (69-65) and Montana (60-52).
But even more encouraging is the recent production of junior center Brandon Moore, who seems ready to go on a late-season surge similar to last year’s when the 6-foot-9, 250-pounder, averaged almost 12 points and eight rebounds while shooting 53.1 percent from the field in the Eagles’ last eight games.
Moore is averaging 10.8 points and 6.8 rebounds this year, but torched MSU for 17 points on 7-for-14 shooting, after scoring 12 points and grabbing eight rebounds against Portland State a game earlier.
“The past week or so, Brandon has been more efficient scoring the ball than he was the three games before that, and that’s helped us a lot,” Earlywine said. “He was more productive on the Montana trip than he was the whole month of January.
“Hopefully, he’ll have that same kind of finish he had last year, because if he does, it’ll make things a whole lot easier for us.”
Roadrunners to visit GU
Gonzaga will conclude the 2010 regular season with a non-conference home game against Cal State Bakersfield on March 2, according to a Bakersfield newspaper. The Roadrunners, 6-15 this season, will be in the final season of their transition from NCAA Division II to D-I.
Coaches vs. Cancer
The eighth annual Coaches vs. Cancer event, co-chaired by Mark and Marcy Few, will be Aug. 28-29. The event includes a two-day golf tournament and a black-tie gala at the Davenport Hotel, emceed by ESPN’s Jay Bilas.
Donations can be made at www.gucoachesvscancer.com or by texting “cvc” to 20222. A one-time $5 charge will be added to your cell phone bill.
Looking for help
WSU coach Tony Bennett still isn’t sure who will step up to help his big three of Aron Baynes, Taylor Rochestie and freshman Klay Thompson. But he knows he needs somebody.
Against Stanford tonight Bennett will probably return two seniors to the starting lineup – Caleb Forrest and Daven Harmeling – and hope one can add an offensive punch.
Forrest’s best game of the year, and his career, came against UCLA when he had 19 points on 8-of-9 shooting. But he followed that up with a 1-of-11 night against USC. Harmeling, who has been in a shooting slump, started against Arizona and hit three 3-pointers, though he was 3 of 11 from the floor.