Northern Arizona Keeps Eastern Washington Winless In Big Sky Play

The Eastern Washington University men’s basketball team remained winless in the Big Sky Conference Saturday night, when the Eagles fell to Northern Arizona 71-57 in the Walkup Skydome.

EWU, 3-21 overall, is 0-12 in conference.

The good news for Eastern is that it returns home this week for the final two games of the regular season. The bad news is that those contests are against Big Sky co-leaders Montana and Montana State.

Saturday, EWU fell behind 16-6 in the first 9 minutes. Northern Arizona’s lead grew into a 33-18 cushion at halftime.

The Eagles connected on just 9 of 29 shots in the first half.

NAU (6-18, 3-10) moved out to a 45-28 lead on Brent Bowden’s free throws. EWU guard D’mitri Rideout’s 3-pointer trimmed the deficit to 51-40, but NAU’s Lumberjacks responded by sprinting into their biggest lead, at 66-44, with 2:02 left.

The victory preserved NAU’s hopes of snatching the final Big Sky tournament spot away from Idaho.

Bryant Carter topped Eastern with 12 points. Curtis Porter and Luke Egan each had 10 as Egan reached double figures for the fifth consecutive game.

NAU freshman guard Michael McNair poured in 20 points. Bowden added 12 points and six rebounds for the Lumberjacks, who benefited from 53-percent shooting.

Northern Arizona 71, EWU 57

Eastern Washington (3-21) - Porter 5-9 0-0 10, Dean 2-4 0-0 4, Lewis 4-7 0-0 8, Rideout 2-8 4-4 9, King 0-7 0-0 0, Carter 4-11 4-4 12, Egan 3-8 2-2 10, Thompson 0-2 0-0 0, Sims 1-2 0-0 2, Groves 0-1 2-2 2. Totals 21-59 12-12 57.

Northern Arizona (6-16) - McNair 5-12 7-8 20, Bowden 5-5 2-5 12, Frank 2-6 5-8 9, Thomas 3-7 0-0 6, Riley 3-6 2-2 8, Flores 2-6 1-2 5, Burns 0-1 1-2 1, Abbott 2-4 0-0 5, Marter 0-0 0-0 0, Ten Berge 2-2 0-0 5. Totals 24-45 18-27 71.

Halftime- N. Arizona 33, E. Washington 18. 3-Point goals- E. Washington 3-21 (Egan 2-6, Rideout 1-4, King 0-5, Carter 0-4, Porter 0-2), N. Arizona 5-12 (McNair 3-6, Ten Berge 1-1, Abbott 1-2, Riley 0-3). Fouled out- none.

Rebounds- E. Washington 34 (Lewis, Carter 5) N. Arizona 30 (Frank 8). Assists- E. Washington 17 (Egan 5), N. Arizona 18 (Riley 5). Total fouls- E. Washington 20, N. Arizona 14. A-1,816.