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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Grizzlies edge Eagles in Big Sky showdown

There’s a lot of basketball to be played at Eastern Washington, but most likely it won’t happen at Reese Court. Too bad, because the place was packed Saturday afternoon – 4,621 were on hand to watch the Eagles try to make a little history. They still might, but after a tough 77-76 loss to Montana, they’ll have to do it the hard way – on the road. The game epitomized the entire Big Sky Conference race: two teams limping to the finish line until Parker Kelly missed a potential winning shot with 6 seconds left and the Grizzlies secured the rebound and the win. “We still have a lot to play for,” said Eastern coach Jim Hayford, whose club fell to 21-8 overall and 12-4 in the Big Sky. “At the end of the day, Montana leaves here with four Big Sky losses, and we leave with four Big Sky losses.” However, Sacramento State has just three losses, improving to 13-3 after a 73-60 win later Saturday at Portland State. The Hornets need to win just one of their final two games (at Southern Utah and Northern Arizona) to host the Big Sky postseason tournament. Montana is 13-4 in the Big Sky. The Eagles would be in better shape had they played only slightly better Saturday in three key areas: —- Spotty outside shooting from guard Tyler Harvey, who scored a game-high 27 points but was 2-for-8 from beyond the arc; —-Defense in the paint – Montana center Martin Breunig was hit 9 of 11 shots, and also dished out six assists; —-Free-throw shooting, an Eastern strength most of the season but a confounding 12 for 20 on Saturday, including some key misses in the second half. Montana was a perfect 12 for 12. “When it is a game that comes down to one possession like that, there are a lot of things you can look at,” said Hayford. The Eagles almost found a way to win despite trailing for most of the game, which was witnessed by the fourth-largest crowd at Reese Court. Montana led 77-72 after Breunig scored the last of his team-high 24 points on a layin with 2:15 left. Eastern forward Bogdan Bliznyuk countered 20 seconds later, making a layin and drawing a foul in the process. But he missed the free throw. The Eagles forced a turnover with 59 seconds left, but forward Venky Jois missed a layin – the ball dancing on the rim until it landed in the hands of Montana forward Fabijan Krslovic. The Grizzlies (17-11 overall) ran down the clock, but with a chance to clinch the game, Mario Dunn missed an open 3-pointer to give Eastern one more chance. Drew Brandon drove the lane, but his short jumper was blocked by Dunn. Bliznyuk got the rebound with 6 seconds left and EWU called timeout to set up the play. They ran it perfectly, with Brandon passing to Kelly for an open 15-footer. But Kelly’s shot missed even the rim. “We battled back and did all that we had to do,” Hayford said. “We got the ball on the baseline after the timeout, got to run a play and got a really good look – Parker just didn’t make it.” Lost too was a chance to make some history with a sweep of the Montana schools in football and basketball – the ledger now stands at 6-1 – and more importantly, their first Big Sky Conference title in 11 years. The Eagles trailed 42-39 at halftime, but regained the lead at 52-49 on a 3-pointer by Harvey with 16:20 to play. Moments later, though, Harvey – an 85 percent free-throw shooter – missed two foul shots that would have pushed the lead to five. Harvey atoned with three foul shots at 6:33 that gave Eastern a 69-66 advantage, but Montana retook the lead for good on a 3-pointer and a layin from Brandon Gfeller. Brandon finished with 15 points, nine rebounds, five assists and three steals, and Jois had a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds.