Surprise! It’s Time For Tipoff

Steve Aggers stopped short of getting angry Tuesday night, meaning he probably never considered kicking a basketball into the grandstand.

It’s not like the Eastern Washington basketball coach had time to relive third-grade recess, anyway. Not with that night’s game at Sacramento State tipping off 30 minutes sooner than expected.

An oversight in the EWU sports information office led Aggers and the Eagles to believe the non-conference game would start at 7:30 p.m., so Aggers was understandably miffed when the Sac State trainer pulled him aside during pregame warm-ups.

“The trainer on the other team says, ‘Do your coaches know it’s a 7 o’clock game?”’ Aggers said Wednesday.

Forward Luke Egan had never seen anything like it. “We’re shooting around, probably at a quarter past 6, and the trainer comes out and the fans start clapping” said Egan, who scored 17 points in the Eagles’ 73-65 victory. “I’m like, ‘What the hell is going on here?’ We ran into the locker room and coach didn’t even have time to go over a game plan. He just told us to not worry about it, to just go play.”

The Eagles (3-18) had reason to worry, however, as they missed 15 of their first 17 shots - including a run of 12 straight bricks - and trailed Sac State 19-7.

“It’s a tough place to play,” Aggers said, noting Hornet Gym’s antiquated facilities and poor lighting. “I’m in the locker room giving my talk and there’s some guy in the shower, and then an old guy walks by shaving.”

As part of its agreement to join the Big Sky next season, Sac State will play games in a refurbished Memorial Auditorium. Until then, teams visit at their own peril.

“It’s not secured at all,” Aggers continued. “Then another guy comes into the locker room on crutches with one leg. He had been outside using the pool and came in the back door to use the locker room - he walks by, right in the middle of a team meeting.”

For Egan, the writing was on the wall. “They actually had a sign up there that said, ‘Thieves are at work in the locker room,”’ he said. “So we grabbed our stuff and stuck it behind the bench. Luckily, I didn’t have anything valuable.”

With contributions from Egan, Adam Dean, Curtis Porter, Travis King, D’mitri Rideout and Melvin Lewis, it was the Eagles who stole a valuable road victory.

Sore winners

Weber State beat Montana State 94-90 last week, but Weber coach Ron Abegglen wasn’t exactly satisfied. Seems Weber’s porous defense, which has yielded 80 or more points 14 times and 90 or more five times, made the victory a chore instead of a breeze.

After chewing out his players in the locker room, Abegglen marched past media members, turned to face the throng and huffed, “All I have to say is we scored 95 points and it’s pathetic that we’re still hanging on (for) our lives.”

Nobody bothered to mention that Weber scored 94 points, not 95. Anyway, some who viewed it said they’d never seen Abegglen so upset.

Abegglen also put a gag order on his players. He later relented, apparently after a discussion with Weber administrators.

Dressin’ up Dahlberg

Montana has plans to spiff up Dahlberg Arena and Adams Fieldhouse, which houses the quaint basketball facility.

UM wants to expand capacity from 8,950 to 10,000, all theater-style seats. The court would run east-west instead of the current north-south.

Private boxes would be added as well as some new offices.

Renovations are expected to begin in March 1997.

Wednesday’s result

Idaho State 77, Weber State 70

POCATELLO, Idaho

Rob Preston scored 23 points in leading Idaho State to a 77-70 victory over Weber State in Pocatello, Idaho.

Nate Green added 22 points for the Bengals (10-11 overall, 6-4 in the Big Sky), followed by Patrick Lee with 14.

Justyn Tebbs led the Wildcats (15-9, 6-4) with 25 points. Jimmy DeGraffenried had 21 points.

Weber State (15-9) - Tebbs 9-18 2-2 25, DeGraffenried 9-14 3-5 21, Smith 3-7 2-2 8, Emery 0-0 0-0 0, Cuff 2-8 2-2 7, Baskerville 2-5 1-2 6, Hicks 1-4 0-1 2, Fisher 0-1 0-0 0, Nielsen 0-1 0-0 0, McIntyre 0-0 1-2 1. Totals 26-58 11-16 70.

Idaho State (10-11) - Preston 10-13 1-2 23, Brown 1-1 0-0 2, Green 6-18 10-15 22, Artis 2-9 0-0 5, Harwell 2-6 7-8 11, Lee 4-7 3-4 14, Tarver 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 25-55 21-29 77.

Halftime-Weber St. 38, Idaho St. 27. A-4,780.

, DataTimes