Eastern Washington hits the road for CBI game at Wyoming

Felix Von Hofe was born and raised in Australia, but thanks to the game of basketball, he’s seen most of America.

But not Wyoming.

“Cowboy country, right?” Von Hofe said Tuesday morning after Eastern Washington wrapped up practice at Reese Court.

Moments later, the Eagles headed for the airport, bound for the Rocky Mountains and a first-round College Basketball Invitational game Wednesday night at Wyoming.

How appropriate for Von Hofe and fellow senior Jacob Wiley, who are heading for the last roundup of their Eastern careers.

“It’s one last stand,” said Von Hofe, warming to the topic four days after the Eagles fell to Weber State in the semifinals of the Big Sky Conference Tournament in Reno, Nevada.

“We get to keep the guys together for one last little run, and hopefully it goes further than Wyoming,” Von Hofe said.

The CBI represents a chance to build on one of Eastern’s best seasons. The Eagles are 22-11 overall after going 13-5 and finishing second in the Big Sky regular-season race.

This will be the third straight postseason appearance for Eastern, which made the NCAAs two years ago and the second round of the CBI last year.

“We want to be a perennial postseason team,” said coach Jim Hayford, now in his sixth year. “It seemed so elusive years ago, so there’s a lot of things to celebrate.”

In order to celebrate another win, the Eagles will need to an athletic Wyoming team that also likes to shoot the long ball (351 attempts this season, seventh in Division I).

Wyoming also defends well on the perimeter; opponents shoot just 31.5 percent from long range.

The Cowboys are balanced too, with nine players averaging at least 12 minutes of playing time and four averaging double-figure scoring.

Guard Justin James leads the way with a 15.7 points a game and 43.5 percent shooting from beyond the arc.

Another obstacle is the elevation: 7,134 feet, a couple hundred feet higher than in Flagstaff, Arizona, where the Eagles ended the regular season with a thud at Northern Arizona.

“Wyoming has one of the great home court advantages in college basketball,” said Hayford. “If you win a game there you have really earned one.”

If Eastern prevails, it will face Green Bay or Missouri-Kansas City in a second-round game early next week.