Sluggish Eagles defeat Montana State

BOZEMAN - Despite a season-low scoring and shooting afternoon, the defense for the Eastern Washington University men’s basketball team came through in the second half to help the Eagles to a 61-51 victory over Montana State in a Big Sky Conference men’s basketball game Saturday at Worthington Arena in Bozeman, Mont. Eastern went on a 17-3 run and held Montana State to 1-of-14 shooting during an 11-minute span in the second half to turn an eight-point deficit into a six-point advantage. The Eagles allowed the Bobcats just 17 points in the second half on 20 percent shooting, and gave up only six points in the final 15:13 of the game after MSU had taken a 45-37 lead. “We came in here and gutted it out,” said Eastern coach Jim Hayford. “We held them to 32 percent shooting in the game, we forced 20 turnovers and we gave up only 17 second-half points. We got our school’s first road sweep in a long time, and we did it both nights with defense.” In completing EWU’s first Big Sky Conference road sweep since 2004, senior point guard Drew Brandon had a double-double with 15 points and 12 rebounds. But the Eagles struggled offensively with a season-low 35.1 percent shooting night, and just 26.7 percent (4 of 15) from the 3-point line for another season low. Eastern’s previous low for scoring was 65 points. Harvey, the nation’s leading scorer at 23.4 points per game, missed his second straight game with a quadriceps contusion. Eastern went into the game leading the league and ranked third in NCAA Division I in scoring offense (83.0 per game), eighth in field goal percentage (49.4 percent) and fourth in 3-pointers made per game (10.3). The team was third nationally and second in the Big Sky in 3-point field goal percentage (41.9 percent). Four Eagles scored in double figures, led by Brandon’s sixth double-double of the season and 11th in his career. He also made 7 of 8 free throws and had a career-high six steals. “Drew is just a winner – he finds different ways to help us win,” said Hayford. “Tonight it was at the free-throw line and rebounding. He had 15 points, 12 rebounds and six steals – that was just big-time.” The win sets up a showdown for the Big Sky lead against Sacramento State on Thursday in Cheney.