Eastern Squashes Hornets Dean, Egan Lead Eagles To 73-65 Win Over Sac State

Eastern Washington earned its first victory this season against an NCAA Division I opponent when the Eagles held onto a late lead and defeated Sacramento State 73-65 in Hornet Gym.

The non-conference win, against a Sac State (4-18) team that will join the Big Sky next year, broke a 10-game losing streak.

Center Adam Dean scored 18 points and forward Luke Egan had 17, including consecutive 3-pointers that helped EWU (3-18) overcome a 40-31 deficit. Wing Curtis Porter’s three-point play pulled the Eagles close early in the second half, and Egan’s 3s put EWU ahead to stay, 40-36.

Center Melvin Lewis scored all six of his points over the next several minutes, and point guard Travis King provided two 3s as the Eagles completed a 23-4 run to lead 54-44 with 9:09 to play.

Sac State pulled within 54-50, but Dean scored twice and King tipped in a D’mitri Rideout miss to make it 60-50 with 5:42 left.

Rideout missed his first six shots, then made two straight as EWU pushed its lead to 64-56 with 2:25 remaining.

“We really executed our things well and played with poise and composure,” Eagles coach Steve Aggers said. “I was happy for our guys. We’ve been so close the last few games.”

EWU had lost its previous three games by a total of seven points, including Saturday night’s 70-65 overtime loss to Boise State.

Tuesday night’s game started at 7:05, 25 minutes earlier than the Eagles expected. EWU missed 13 of its first 15 shots and trailed 17-7.

King had 11 points, six rebounds and four assists in directing an EWU offense that committed just 10 turnovers. Egan had six rebounds and four assists while Rideout offset his poor shooting with three steals and four assists.

EWU 73, Sacramento St. 65

EWU (3-18) - Porter 3-12 3-3 10, Groves 1-4 1-1 3, Dean 9-13 0-0 18, Rideout 2-8 0-0 4, King 3-7 3-4 11, Lewis 3-7 0-0 6, Carter 0-2 4-4 4, Egan 6-8 2-2 17, Thompson 0-1 0-0 0, Sims 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 27-62 13-14 73.

Sacramento St. (4-18) - Ramirez 6-14 4-5 17, Victor 3-8 1-2 7, Hoogensbosch 2-4 2-3 6, Sadler 4-6 1-2 10, Boyd 5-11 1-2 12, Carey 3-11 0-0 9, Jenkins 1-3 0-0 3, Williams 0-0 0-0 0, Bass 0-0 1-2 1. Totals 24-57 10-16 65.

Halftime-Sacramento St. 31, E. Washington 29. 3-Point goals-E. Washington 6-15 (Porter 1-3, Dean 0-1, King 2-6, Carter 0-1, Egan 3-4), Sacramento St. 7-23 (Ramirez 1-2, Victor 0-2, Sadler 1-2, Boyd 1-3, Carey 3-11, Jenkins 1-3). Fouled out-none. Rebounds-E. Washington 34 (King, Lewis, Egan 6), Sacramento St. 37 (Ramirez, Boyd 6). Assists-E. Washington 15 (Rideout, King, Egan 4), Sacramento St. 15 (Sadler 9). Total fouls-E. Washington 13, Sacramento St. 13. A-426.