Not Enough Lewis For Ewu

Eastern Washington jumped off the Melvin Lewis Express a couple of stops too soon, and it cost the Eagles a chance at their first Big Sky Conference victory since 1992-93.

The leaner, meaner Lewis - 23 pounds lighter than the 290 his 6-foot-8 frame carried a few weeks back - powered Eastern into a six-point lead with 10 minutes to play, then went mostly ignored as Montana rallied for a 74-65 men’s basketball victory before 2,178 at Reese Court.

“He should’ve been getting the ball at the end,” said EWU off-guard D’mitri Rideout, whose 0-for-8 shooting display kept him scoreless after a 16-point performance the previous night. “If we would keep on feeding him the pill, we would’ve won the game.”

Lewis led all players with 21 points and 13 rebounds in a season-high 39 minutes.

“Melvin Lewis is a big load, to say the least,” Montana point guard Shane Belnap said. “He’s a very talented player and we have a lot of respect for him. The one thing that helped was they weren’t hitting from the outside, so we could double down late in the game.”

By “they,” Belnap was referring to every Eagle except forward Joshua Lewis, who connected on 4 of 5 3-pointers before fouling out with 4:17 remaining.

Belnap played a key role as the Grizzlies, trailing 53-47 with 10 minutes left, went to a halfcourt trap that sparked a 20-4 run over the next 3:30. The 6-foot guard made six steals, including one that led to Montana’s second consecutive three-point play. Belnap stripped Eastern point guard Carl Crider, who had dribbled into a trap, and quickly found 6-5 wing Chris Spoja for a layup.

Spoja was fouled, making the free throw for a 60-53 Grizzlies lead with 7:29 to play.

Matt Kempfert’s rebound basket stretched it to 62-55 before Eastern (0-7 Big Sky, 3-13 overall) showed signs of a comeback. Melvin Lewis tipped in Kevin Groves’ miss and, after a Belnap free throw, Josh Lewis emerged from a midcourt pileup to lead a 3-on-1 fast break.

Instead of passing to a waiting Melvin Lewis under the basket, Josh Lewis opted for the spectacular, a one-handed jam over Kempfert. One problem: Kempfert drew the charge, Lewis’ fifth personal.

Poor decision or not, the play cost Eastern the long-range threat it needed to cut into Montana’s lead. Chris Spoja soon made a 15-footer, giving Montana (5-2, 14-7) a 67-57 cushion that wouldn’t be threatened in the final 3:48.

The game’s ending spoiled one of Eastern’s better beginnings.

Josh Lewis hit a couple of 3s early, and Melvin Lewis scored twice inside as the Eagles took an 18-13 lead in the opening 11 minutes. Eastern seemed headed to a halftime lead until Spoja made consecutive 3-pointers and a free throw for a 28-23 Griz lead with 1:28 before intermission.

With Melvin Lewis scoring eight points in the first 6:11 of the second half, the Eagles cut Montana’s lead to 41-40. Consecutive 3s by Josh Lewis followed by Curtis Porter’s transition layup put Eastern in unfamiliar territory - leading 49-44 with 11:36 remaining.

It was too good to last.

“We just can’t stand success,” Wade said. “We saw the trap and we bugged out again. Our heart’s in the right place, but you gotta make plays down the stretch.”

Montana did.

Montana 74, E. Washington 65

MONTANA (14-6)

Samuelson 6-8 5-6 19, Kempfert 5-8 4-8 14, Covill 1-3 1-2 3, Belnap 2-9 3-5 8, Lake 1-7 7-8 9, Dade 0-2 0-0 0, Camel 1-3 0-0 2, Spoja 6-9 5-7 19, Walker 0-3 0-0 0, Olson 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 22-52 25-36 74.

E. WASHINGTON (3-15)

Dean 0-0 0-0 0, Grove 3-6 3-5 9, M. Lewis 8-16 5-7 21, Rideout 0-8 0-0 0, Thompson 2-7 0-0 5, Richardson 0-0 0-0 0, Egan 0-0 0-0 0, Crider 2-5 0-0 5, Porter 3-8 2-2 8, Stinnett 0-1 0-0 0, J. Lewis 6-11 1-2 17. Totals 24-62 11-16 65.

Halftime-Montana 31, E. Washington 27. 3-Point goals- Montana 5-15 (Samuelson 2-2, Belnap 1-5, Lake 0-5, Spoja 2-2, Walker 0-1), E. Washington 6-9 (Thompson 1-2, Crider 1-2, J. Lewis 4-5). Fouled out-J. Lewis, Dean. Rebounds-Montana 37 (Kempfert 9), E. Washington 41 (M. Lewis 13). Assists-Montana 12 (Belnap 5), E. Washington 17 (Thompson, Crider 5). Total fouls- Montana 14, E. Washington 26. A-2,178.