Eagles Fall Flat In Finish Eastern Loses Late As Final Play Falters

Last-second plays, hurriedly concocted and frantically discussed during the loosely controlled chaos of a 60-second timeout, seldom unfold exactly as diagrammed.

But few depart from the script as drastically - or in as unsightly a fashion - as the one Eastern Washington botched Thursday night in the final 13 seconds of its disappointing 82-78 Big Sky Conference loss to Montana State at Reese Court.

A play designed to either free Luke Egan for a jumpshot near the top of the key or brush Kevin Lewis off a screen for a shot in the lane, ended up with point guard Travis King nearly losing the ball off the dribble and then throwing up an off-balance, unanswered prayer from just inside the foul line with 4 seconds remaining.

The Eagles were down 80-78 at the time, with a chance to win or at least force the defending Big Sky champions into overtime.

But when King’s shot clanged off the rim and MSU’s Scott Harry hit a couple of meaningless free throws 2 seconds later, Eastern’s upset hopes vanished, leaving coach Steve Aggers highly critical of his team’s execution and effort.

“Terrible execution on our part,” he said after his final play blew up in his face and his Eagles slipped to 6-9 overall and 2-3 in the Big Sky. “I’m really disappointed. We’d come a long way, we had two nice wins (over Cal State Sacramento and Weber State) last weekend, but tonight we just didn’t play.

“We couldn’t guard anybody, couldn’t defend anybody and didn’t rebound. You have to give (the Bobcats) credit for running their offense, but we just had a terrible defensive effort tonight.”

Considering the trouble they had defending the inside-out passing of MSU’s Nate Holmstadt and Danny Sprinkle, the Eagles were fortunate to have a chance to win it late.

Holmstadt, a burly 6-foot-8 sophomore center, finished with a game-high 21 points for the Bobcats (9-8 and 3-2). He scored on an assortment of shots that included a 3-pointer. But he was most effective inside, where the Eagles were unable to double team from the perimeter because of the outside shooting of Sprinkle, who finished with 15 points.

“I think we complement each other really well,” said Sprinkle, who shook off a slow start to score 10 points during a 5-minute second-half span that saw the Bobcats sprint from a 60-55 deficit to a 72-66 lead with 6:16 left.

“He (Holmstadt) is such a force inside, and then I can usually get my shot going from outside because he’s getting it done inside.”

“I really thought we played very well offensively,” MSU coach Mick Durham added. “We got good balance inside and out and then we stepped it up on the defensive end in the second half, which was very important.

“This is going to be a tough place to play with the job Coach Aggers had done here. I don’t think too many people are going to come in here and get wins this year.”

The Bobcats stretched their second-half lead to 79-70 before Eastern launched an inspired comeback that set the stage for King’s ill-fated shot.

King, who finished with 18 points, said he wasn’t sure what transpired on his drive to the basket.

“They didn’t double-team (at the top of the key) and I saw an open lane all the way to the basket, so I took it,” he explained. “For some reason - and I don’t know why, whether I got tripped or just lost my footing - I lost (the ball) for a second.

“I tried to regather and was going to pass it to Kevin (Lewis), but his guy helped cover, so I just shot it, basically, out of desperation.”

Lewis, after scoring 14 first-half points, finished with 17 for the Eagles. Karim Scott added 16 and Egan chipped in 13.

Eastern plays at home again Saturday night at 7:05 against Montana.

Montana St. 82, E. Washington 78

Montana St. (9-8) - Harry 5-10 4-5 15, Sullivan 2-6 0-0 5, Holmstadt 9-15 2-5 21, Rabb 5-8 0-0 13, Sprinkle 5-11 4-4 15, Williams 0-1 0-0 0, Fay 1-2 0-0 2, Lazosky 1-1 0-0 2, Badding 0-1 1-2 1, Claxton 3-8 2-2 8. Totals 31-63 13-18 82.

E. Washington (6-9) - Egan 5-9 2-2 13, Sims 1-4 0-0 2, Lewis 7-10 3-4 17, King 6-13 4-5 18, Scott 7-12 2-3 16, Moss-Kelley 1-3 0-0 3, Garcille 0-1 1-2 1, Claus 1-1 0-0 3, Berger 2-4 0-0 4, Turner 0-2 1-2 1. Totals 30-59 13-18 78.

Halftime-E. Washington 45, Montana St. 40. 3-Point goals-Montana St. 7-20 (Harry 1-3, Sullivan 1-2, Holmstadt 1-1, Rabb 3-6, Sprinkle 1-4, Williams 0-1, Fay 0-1, Badding 0-1, Claxton 0-1), E. Washington 5-14 (Egan 1-3, King 2-6, Scott 0-1, Moss-Kelley 1-3, Claus 1-1). Fouled out- None. Rebounds-Montana St. 29 (Harry 9), E. Washington 36 (Egan, Lewis 8). Assists-Montana St. 25 (Rabb 7), E. Washington 21 (King 8). Total fouls-Montana St. 17, E. Washington 19. A-1,206. , DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color Photo