Eastern Wins Second Straight Road Game

Big Sky men’s basketball

Two things Eastern Washington had come to rely on - foul shooting and Melvin Lewis - weren’t reliable Tuesday night against Sacramento State.

Not to worry. Guards Curtis Porter and Brent Thompson combined for 38 points as Eastern earned a 67-64 nonconference win at Hornet Gym. After 44 straight road losses, EWU has won two in a row away from home.

Thompson scored five straight points to pull Eastern within 62-60 with 3:30 remaining, hitting his fourth 3-pointer before scoring on a driving layup.

Porter, who led Eastern with 18 points, added a leaning jumper in the lane to make it 62-62 with 2:25 to play. Lewis, who had hit just 3 of 15 field goals to that point, put Eastern ahead 64-62 with a 7-foot fadeaway over two defenders.

Sac State tied it 64-64 before Thompson drew a foul with :49 left. He missed both free throws, but Lewis tipped the rebound on the second miss to D’mitri Rideout for a layup.

Lewis, Eastern’s leading scorer and rebounder this season, added a free throw for the final margin.

The Eagles won despite making just 21 of 39 free throws for 54 percent - hardly up to their 73.3 percent standard heading into Tuesday night’s game.

EWU 69, Sac State 64

EWU (6-18)

Porter 7-12 4-8 18, Lewis 4-16 4-9 12, Rideout 2-9 4-6 8, Thompson 6-9 0-4 16, Egan 1-4 1-2 3, Crider 0-1 0-0 0, Dean 0-1 0-0 0, Groves 2-5 6-8 10, Stinnett 0-1 2-2 2. Totals 22-58 21-39 69.

SACRAMENTO ST. (6-19)

Ramirez 2-4 1-2 6, Boyd 5-18 3-6 13, Amos 4-5 3-6 11, Hunter 7-15 3-4 18, Edwards 3-10 0-0 8, Hillman 1-2 4-4 6, Tate 1-2 0-0 2, Williams 0-0 0-0 0, Stewart 0-0 0-0 0, Bell 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 23-56 14-22 64.

Halftime-Sacramento St. 36, E. Wash. 29. 3-Point goals-E. Wash. 4-6 (Thompson 4-5, Crider 0-1), Sacramento St. 4-13 (Edwards 2-7, Hunter 1-1, Ramirez 1-2, Boyd 0-3). Fouled out-Edwards, Hillman, Tate. Rebounds-E. Wash. 44 (Lewis 8), Sacramento St. 51 (Ramirez 11). Assists-E. Wash. 8 (Porter 2, Lewis 2), Sacramento St. 13 (Hunter 6). Total fouls-E. Wash. 19, Sacramento St. 26. A-662.

Idaho St. 101, Cal Poly-SLO 47

In Pocatello, Idaho, Jim Potter’s 23 points led the Bengals.

CAL POLY-SLO (1-24)

Kjellesvig 2-6 0-0 6, Levesque 3-6 0-0 6, Croy 0-4 0-0 0, Tucker 1-9 0-0 2, Stewart 2-6 3-4 7, Dineen 1-4 0-0 2, Wilkerson 4-7 0-1 8, Hyde 2-5 0-0 4, Ott 5-6 2-2 12. Totals 20-53 5-7 47.

IDAHO STATE (17-8)

Morgan 6-13 7-9 19, Potter 9-19 3-5 23, Preston 5-7 0-0 10, Lands 2-5 0-5 5, Watkins 4-7 0-0 11, Cotton 2-4 0-0 5, Lee 3-5 3-4 11, Harwell 0-3 0-0 0, Arave 0-0 1-2 1, Barthlome 0-1 0-0 0, Daniels 1-2 1-2 3, Green 5-10 3-5 13, Maxwell 0-0 0-2 0, Jones 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 37-76 18-34 101.

Halftime-Idaho St. 48, Cal Poly-SLO 23. 3-Point goals-Cal Poly 2-8 (Kjellesvig 2-5, Dineen 0-2, Wilkerson 0-1), ISU 9-17 (Watkins 3-5, Lee 2-3, Potter 2-3, Cotton 1-1, Lands 1-2, Harwell 0-1, Morgan 0-1, Barthlome 0-1). Fouled out-Ott, Levesque. Rebounds-Cal Poly 30 (Tucker 6), ISU 50 (Potter 10). Assists-Cal Poly 10 (Stewart 4), ISU 24 (Morgan 7). Total fouls-Cal Poly 29, ISU 12. A-3,001.