Eagles snap seven-game skid
Dean Glen scored seven points in the last 66 seconds of the game to lead Eastern Washington to a 74-69 Big Sky Conference win over Montana State at Reese Court.
You can read an unedited version of the game story that will appear in Saturday morning's S-R below.
DEAN'S BIG FINISH FUELS EASTERN
After struggling through, perhaps, the least productive 38 minutes of his still-infant college basketball career Friday night, Glen Dean figured out how to be Glen Dean again.
And although the discovery came late, it still paid huge dividends for
Dean, scored seven of his 12 points in the final 66 seconds as the Eagles (7-18 overall, 3-8 in the Big Sky) snapped a seven-game losing streak in front of a
“I just figured I couldn’t play any worse,” said Dean, who made four free throws and a huge 3-pointer from the left wing to fuel EWU’s much-needed late-game surge. “Whatever happened before; whatever I had done wrong, I was going to make up for it with something better down the stretch.”
And the Eagles needed everything Dean could give them after blowing another large second-half lead that had some of the players – Dean included – thinking back to the 14-point second-half lead they spit away in an 85-77 home loss to
Redshirt freshman guard Kevin Winford, who finished with 19 points to lead a quintet of double-figure scorers for Eastern, admitted to harboring some concern after the Bobcats used a 17-1 run to erase a 55-43 Eagles’ lead and take a 60-56 advantage with five minutes remaining.
“At first, I was thinking, ‘Oh, no. Not again,’ ” he explained. “But this time we kept our composure at the ended, which is something we haven’t done throughout the season. I think that’s a sign that we’re maturing.”
It was Winford who knocked down a shot clock-beating 3-pointer to end MSU’s big run. He finished 5-for-10 from the field – including 3-for 8 from 3-point range – and made all six free throws he attempted.
Jeffrey Forbes, another freshman guard, finished with 17 points for Eastern, which also got 11 from senior center Brandon Moore and 10 from senior forward Mark Dunn.
“Obviously, our guys are really happy,” Kirk Earlywine, the Eagles’ third-year head coach said. “And I’m not only happy, but proud of them, too. It’s just such a fine line between winning a game like that and losing a game like that … and we’ve been on the wrong side of that line six out of our last seven outings.
“I thought the character of our guys showed, not only in building a 12 lead from a four-point halftime deficit, but then after we lost the lead to have the wherewithal to come back and do the things we had to do down the stretch to win the game.”
Eastern will attempt to build on Friday night’s win on Sunday, when it entertains streaking
“This feels amazing right now,” Winford said. “We’ve still got a lot of work to do, and everything, but it was nice to finally get a win again.
“It’s been a long stretch.”