Eastern’s Loss Doesn’t Defy Dismal Description
Exasperating. Frustrating. Discouraging. Repulsive. Eastern Washington basketball., Even to the neutral observer, Thursday night’s 60-58 home defeat to Northern Arizona - complete with 39 missed shots by EWU was an exercise in stress management.
For first-year Eastern coach Steve Aggers, it must have felt like a nightmare. A recurring one, at that.
“Exasperating, frustrating, all those words combined,” said Aggers, clearly drained after watching his Eagles overcome a 50-41 deficit to take a 56-53 lead, only to give the game away with a series of blunders in the final 2 minutes. “That’s what happens when you’re in last place and you lose your confidence. We just gotta try to pull them together and get their confidence back, somehow.”
Trailing 56-53 after having gone 7 minutes without scoring, NAU tied it when point guard Charles Thomas swished a 3-pointer from the right wing as EWU forward Mike Sims failed to rotate defensively.
Eagles point guard Travis King followed with a turnover on a botched inlet pass to center Adam Dean, setting up Scott Taylor’s basket at the other end as NAU took a 58-56 lead with 52 seconds left. Taylor, who finished with 13 points and 12 rebounds, scored by catching a Thomas airball and laying it in. Thomas then redeemed himself by making both free throws in a one-and-one situation with 13 seconds left. In a recent loss at Montana, Thomas had missed the front end of a one-and-one with 1.8 seconds and his team trailing by two.
“Not this time,” said Thomas, who finished with 14 points, five rebounds, four assists, three steals and a career-low one turnover. “I know I choked last time. This was a very big breakthrough.”
The Big Sky Conference matchup, witnessed by 1,125 in Reese Court, was a breakthrough for both teams. EWU (2-13), its only victories having come against NAIA weaklings Carroll and Whitman, broke through the basement floor for sole possession of last place with an 0-4 record. NAU (4-12, 1-4) gained its first road victory since Dec. 19, 1994 and snapped a nine-game losing skid. EWU has dropped five straight.
“It’s nice to be on the other end of a close one for a change,” said NAU coach Ben Howland, a former Gonzaga assistant.
With basement bragging rights on the line, both teams came out firing, matching each other miss for miss. EWU missed 21 of 29 first-half field goals for a chilly 27.6 percentage, only slightly worse than NAU, which missed 19 of 27. The Eagles trailed 23-20 at the half, getting outscored 5-2 in the final 3:08.
Dean led EWU with 12 points and 10 rebounds, but the 63 percent shooter made just 5 of 15 shots, missing several layups in the closing minutes.
Melvin Lewis, whose 15 points and 15 rebounds were the difference when EWU defeated NAU 71-63 last season, continued to be a non-factor. The 6-foot-8 Lewis, still sluggish after starting the season at more than 305 pounds, fell out of favor with Aggers early in Thursday night’s loss when he failed to hustle after a loose ball. He finished with two points in just 7 minutes.
Northern Arizona 60, EWU 58
Northern Arizona (4-12) - Green 2-6 2-4 7, Bowden 4-11 0-0 8, Taylor 5-10 3-3 13, Thomas 5-10 3-3 14, McNair 3-8 2-2 11, Abbott 0-1 0-0 0, Riley 2-11 0-0 5, Frank 0-1 2-2 2. Totals 21-58 12-14 60
Eastern Washington (2-13) - Sims 5-10 0-0 10, Porter 2-7 2-3 6, Dean 5-15 2-2 12, Rideout 3-8 0-0 6, King 5-8 0-0 12, Lewis 1-3 0-0 2, Carter 0-5 0-0 0, Egan 1-4 1-1 3, Thompson 1-1 0-0 3, Groves 1-2 2-2 4. Totals 24-63 7-8 58
Halftime-N. Arizona 23, E. Washington 20. 3-Point goals-N. Arizona 6-18 (McNair 3-7, Green 1-2, Taylor 0-1, Thomas 1-2, Abbott 0-1, Riley 1-5), E. Washington 3-9 (King 2-4, Porter 0-1, Rideout 0-1, Carter 0-2, Thompson 1-1). Fouled out-None. Rebounds-N. Arizona 37 (Taylor 12), E. Washington 40 (Dean 10). Assists-n. Arizona 12 (Thomas 4), E. Washington 14 (Egan 5). Total fouls-N. Arizona 13, E. Washington 15. A-1,125.
, DataTimes