Eastern Tops Sorrowing Nau

Eastern Washington won its second Big Sky basketball game of the season Saturday afternoon, 73-61 over Northern Arizona.

And while the Eagles had reason to celebrate - they hadn’t won a conference game at home in two seasons - the outcome didn’t obscure the game’s more important story.

Not for the Lumberjacks, who played their second game since leading scorer Brad Snyder was killed in a car accident last weekend. Not for NAU forward Marcel Ten Berge, who had become Snyder’s closest friend. And not for Eastern forward Josh Lewis, who grew up with Ten Berge in Southern California, and lost a brother in a car wreck five years ago.

Saturday’s defeat to Eastern followed Thursday night’s loss at Idaho, a game NAU let slip away in the final seconds.

“I was over at their hotel (after the Idaho game),” said Lewis, who got to know Snyder through Ten Berge. “The thing I just told Marcel is, `You’re going to hurt, and it’s better to feel it now than keep it inside and have it come back and bother you later.’

“That’s basically all you can tell him, because everyone deals with it in different ways.”

It was a difficult game for Lewis and Ten Berge. Each was in foul trouble early, Lewis scoring eight points in 12 minutes, Ten Berge six in 18.

Eastern won by dominating inside, outrebounding the Lumberjacks 40-26. Melvin Lewis was more than NAU could handle, getting 15 points and 15 rebounds, and sophomore Luke Egan, a native of Melbourne, Australia, came off the bench for his most productive stint of the season.

The Eagles had help from junior off-guard D’mitri Rideout, senior forward Craig Stinnett and sophomore point guard Carl Crider.

Rideout was aggressive, scoring twice on offensive rebounds en route to 16 points on 7-for-14 shooting. Stinnett was sharp early, hitting two 17-footers in the opening minutes and showing more confidence than he has all season. And Crider, who didn’t commit a turnover in 17 minutes, kept the Lumberjacks from threatening by making 7 of 8 free throws in the final 2:25.

Stinnett started each of Eastern’s 26 games last season, then watched his role gradually diminish. He made the most of his 12 minutes Saturday, pulling up without hesitation and scoring eight points on 4-for-6 shooting.

“I had all the confidence in the world last year,” Stinnett reflected, “and this year, I just didn’t have any. It’s been really difficult.

“I kind of let it get to me, and it kind of affected the way I played.”

With Stinnett swishing a 15-footer and Rideout following a Kevin Groves miss, Eastern led 35-26 less than 2 minutes into the second half.

NAU answered, recovering from 26-percent first-half shooting to make nine of its first 10 second-half shots. Ten Berge started an 8-0 Lumberjacks run with a layup, and Jermone Riley ended it with a bank shot that trimmed the Eagles’ lead to 35-34 with 15:30 remaining.

The teams battled evenly until Eastern took control with a 9-1 run that made it 55-47 with 4:45 to play.

Rideout started the pivotal sequence with a three-point play, and Egan added two inside baskets. Egan capped the run with a putback on an Eastern series that started when he leapt high for a defensive rebound.

“Throughout the season, I haven’t really been a factor at all,” said Egan, who had six points and four rebounds in 9 minutes. “And I just thought, the last game at home, go out and just try and do what I could.

“Fortunately, the ball came to me, or I went out and got the ball - whatever, it all turned out right. It felt good.”

E. Washington 73, N. Arizona 61

N. ARIZONA (4-9 Big Sky, 7-17)

Deric 0-0 2-2 2, Johnson 4-13 2-2 10, Bowden 2-2 2-4 6, Rondeno 6-15 2-4 16, Riley 3-9 2-2 8, Wylie 0-2 0-2 0, Hale 0-0 0-0 0, Greer 2-4 7-9 11, Ten Berge 3-4 0-0 6, Williams 1-1 0-0 2, Marter 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 21-50 17-25 61.

E. WASHINGTON (2-10, 5-18)

Richardson 0-0 0-2 0, Stinnett 4-6 0-0 8, M. Lewis 6-12 3-6 15, Thompson 1-3 0-0 3, J. Lewis 2-7 4-4 8, Rideout 7-14 1-2 16, Egan 2-2 2-2 6, Crider 1-1 7-8 10, Dean 0-0 0-0 0, Groves 0-3 2-5 2, Porter 2-5 1-2 5. Totals 25-53 20-31 73.

Halftime-E. Washington 31, N. Arizona 24. 3-Point goals-N. Arizona 2-14 (Johnson 0-3, Rondeno 2-7, Riley 0-3, Greer 0-1), E. Washington 3-8 (Thompson 1-1, J. Lewis 0-2, Rideout 1-4, Crider 1-1) . Fouled out-None. Rebounds-N. Arizona 26 (Greer 7), E. Washington 40 (M. Lewis 15). Assists-N. Arizona 9 (Riley 4), E. Washington 15 (Thompson 3). Total fouls-N. Arizona 25, E. Washington 18. Technicals-J. Lewis. A-1,259.