Eastern’s Flameout Delivers Vikings Their First Road Win

Eastern Washington opened the second half of its Big Sky Conference men’s basketball season in the same lame manner it closed the first half - by losing to a school that has had its program in mothballs the past 16 years.

The Eagles, showing little in the way of defensive awareness and even less in the way of composure and confidence, were overwhelmed 73-58 on their home court Friday night by the same upstart Portland State team that edged EWU 71-67 in Portland’s Rose Garden last Saturday.

The latest loss, witnessed by a Reese Court crowd of 1,434, pushed Eastern’s losing streak to five and dropped the Eagles to 6-13 overall and 2-7 in the Big Sky. PSU, which re-established its program for the first time since 1981 so it could join the Big Sky this year, won its third straight and raised its record to 6-13 and 3-6.

It was the first road win in 11 tries for the Vikings, who started three true freshmen.

“I was really pleased we played as unselfish and united as we did,” PSU coach Ritchie McKay said after watching his young team build on its 36-29 halftime lead by spreading the floor and using the clock brilliantly throughout the final 20 minutes.

“But the reason why this win is so precious for us is that this is a good Eastern Washington team. Montana and Montana State both experienced that (in close wins at Reese Court), and we experienced it at the Rose Garden.

“Coach (Steve) Aggers has turned this program and gotten it to the point where they’re very competitive night in and night out. So to come in here on their floor and execute like we did is a huge step for our program.”

Aggers agreed with what McKay said about the Vikings, but wasn’t as sold on his assessment of the Eagles.

“I don’t know what’s happened to our team,” he said. “I just don’t see the hunger in our eyes. We’ve been emotionally flat since Christmas.

“Our guys right now are in a hole. It’s the same thing as a year ago. We’ve just got to figure a way out of it. We’ve got to learn to play better when we’re behind.”

In an effort to stir some fire in his struggling team, Aggers turned to full-court defensive pressure for one of the few times this year. But PSU turned the strategy into a first-half parade to the foul line.

The Vikings, despite shooting only 34.6 percent in the first half, took control of the game by making 15 of 16 free throws prior to intermission and then banging down eight of their first 11 second-half field goal tries.

Sophomore guard Brian Towne paced PSU with 17 points. Junior-college transfer Jamaal Sanford added 15 and McKay’s starting freshmen, Derek Nesland, Mike Vanderhoff and Hasan Artharee, combined for 27 more.

Eastern, playing without starting guard Luke Egan, who was serving a one-game suspension for skipping classes, had little in the way of answers - at either end of the court.

Mike Sims scored 13 points to lead a quartet of double-figure scorers for EWU. But the Eagles turned the ball over 17 times and could not cope with Portland State’s perimeter quickness.

The Vikings went to a four-guard lineup to offset Eastern’s size advantage and slow the tempo.

“They went to a cutting game and we just couldn’t defend it,” Aggers lamented. “Our big guys couldn’t bend their knees and get down.

“I thought their perimeter people played really well, and ours played horrendous,” Aggers said. “Our guards played wilder than Friday night in Butte, Montana.”

Point guard Travis King scored 12 points, but made only 2 of 7 3-point tries and turned the ball over five times.

The Eagles play at Idaho State Thursday and at Cal State Sacramento next Saturday.

Portland St. 73, E. Washington 58

Portland St.(6-13) - Nesland 4-6 2-2 12, Artharee 3-3 0-0 6, Sanford 6-12 3-4 15, Vanderhof 4-9 0-0 9, Towne 7-11 2-3 17, Snook 2-3 0-1 5, Ambrose 0-7 6-6 6, Garner 0-2 3-4 3. Totals 26-53 16-20 73.

E. Washington (6-13) - Sims 6-13 1-1 13, Scott 4-6 3-5 11, K. Lewis 5-8 0-0 10, King 4-10 2-3 12, Claus 0-0 0-0 0, Moss-Kelley 1-4 0-0 2, Garcille 0-1 0-0 0, Berger 0-2 0-0 0, M. Lewis 2-3 0-0 5, Turner 2-3 1-2 5. Totals 24-57 7-11 58.

Halftime-Portland St. 36, E. Washington 29. 3-Point goals-Portland St. 5-12 (Nesland 2-3, Vanderhof 1-3, Towne 1-3, Snook 1-1, Ambrose 0-1, Garner 0-1), E. Washington 3-12 (Sims 0-1, King 2-7, Moss-Kelley 0-3, M. Lewis 1-1). Fouled out-None. Rebounds-Portland St. 31 (Sanford 10), E. Washington 28 (Scott 8). Assists-Portland St. 14 (Nesland 4), E. Washington 17 (King 5). Total fouls- Portland St. 16, E. Washington 23. A-1,434. , DataTimes