Broncos Edge Eagles Ewu’s Bid For Upset Clangs Off Back Of Rim

Eastern Washington did everything it needed to do Tuesday night at Reese Court to scramble back from a nine-point deficit in the final 90 seconds and put itself in position to beat a quality men’s basketball opponent.

Everything, that is, except convert the final 3-point shot that would have nailed down perhaps the biggest win in second-year coach Steve Aggers’ brief stay at EWU.

So when Luke Egan’s jump shot from just beyond the top of the key clanged off the back of the rim, the hard-luck Eagles were forced to deal with the frustration of an 89-87 loss to Santa Clara instead of celebrating a huge upset.

Egan, who had made 3 of 5 3-pointers in putting up a season-high 15 points, said he thought he had launched the game-winner when the ball left his hands.

“It felt good,” said the 6-foot-7 senior guard, who made only his second start of the year. “But I guess it was long, wasn’t it?

“I was shooting the ball well in the first half and felt comfortable when I shot (the last shot), but these things happen. If I get that shot again, I’m going to make it. That’s the attitude I’ve got to have.”

Aggers said he had no problem with the shot Egan took after the Eagles (4-4) inbounded the ball with 5 seconds left.

“We had three options and that was the third one,” he explained. “But he got a good look at it and it was a 3 that would have won the game. You can’t ask for any more than that with 5 seconds left.”

Aggers said he thought Santa Clara’s experience was the key during a 14-8 Broncos run that put the Eagles down 87-78 with a little more than a minute remaining.

But he also had plenty of praise for his own team’s unlikely comeback, which included five of Michael Lewis’ career-high 20 points, a three-point play by center Kevin Lewis and a free throw by Rodrick McClure that tied the game at 87 with 32 seconds on the clock.

“We did all the right things in the last two minutes,” Aggers admitted. “We were in the right defenses, we got the ball in the hands of the shooters we wanted and we got the looks we wanted. Now we’ve just got to get to the point where we make the plays to win these kind of games.”

Kevin Lewis finished with 18 points for EWU, which also got 12 points from Karim Scott and 10 from McClure.

Santa Clara, which also had five players in double figures, got the game-winning basket from freshman point guard Brian Jones, who brushed off teammate Drew Zurek’s screen and scored on an uncontested layup with 11 seconds left.

“We just didn’t show hard enough on that on-ball screen and let Jones go all the way to the hole,” Aggers explained. “That was a defensive breakdown at that point in time.”

Jones, who scored 16 second-half points, finished with 18 - just two behind teammate Marlon Garnett’s 20.

Broncos coach Dick Davey had no solid explanation for his team’s late collapse.

“We missed one-and-one (free throws), we didn’t rebound the basketball, we fouled their 3-point shooter - we did a lot of things to compound our injuries,” he said. “But we were lucky. The gods were with us, and that last shot didn’t go in.”

Eastern will entertain Gonzaga Saturday night at 7:05.

Santa Clara 89, EWU 87

Santa Clara (5-4) - Pierce 4-8 0-0 10, Sedlock 2-3 2-2 6, Zurek 6-11 3-3 17, Jones 4-14 8-8 18, Garnett 8-12 0-1 20, Wuschnig 6-9 0-2 12, Johnson 2-6 0-1 6, Fast 0-1 0-0 0, Gomes 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 32-64 13-17 89.

Eastern Washington (4-4) - Egan 6-10 0-0 15, Scott 6-13 0-1 12, K. Lewis 7-14 4-7 18, McClure 2-4 4-6 10, M. Lewis 7-7 4-7 20, King 3-5 0-1 9, Claus 0-1 0-0 0, Sims 0-0 0-0 0, Berger 1-4 1-2 3. Totals 32-58 13-24 87.

Halftime-E. Washington 39, Santa Clara 38. 3-Point goals

Santa Clara 12-25 (Pierce 2-4, Zurek 2-5, Jones 2-5, Garnett 4-8, Johnson 2-3), E. Washington 10-15 (Egan 3-6, McClure 2-3, M. Lewis 2-2, King 3-4). Fouled out-Santa Clara, Sedlock, Garnett. Rebounds-Santa Clara 34 (Zurek 8), E. Washington 33 (Egan, Berger 7). Assists-Santa Clara 24 (Jones 10), E. Washington 24 (McClure 11). Total fouls-Santa Clara 22, E. Washington 16. A-700.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color photo