Eagles Escape With Win Last-Second Shot Keeps Ewu In Tourney Hunt

As a college basketball coach, you can talk all you want about dribble penetration and pick-and-rolls. You can even draw it all up on a greaseboard amid the confusion of your final timeout.

But with 9 seconds left and the score tied, you’re better off simply having an athlete who can make a play.

Eastern Washington’s Steve Aggers found one in Shannon Taylor Thursday night. And because of the huge one-on-one play the junior guard made in the final seconds, the Eagles managed to hold off Idaho State 78-75 - even though the final play Aggers had diagrammed in his final timeout never came close to materializing.

Taylor, after taking a pass from Deon Williams on the right wing with the clock ticking down, dribbled quickly to his right and drained a 3-pointer over Bengal defender Erik Skinner with 1 second left to give the Eagles their most important victory so far this season.

The win, witnessed by a Reese Court crowd of 1,033, raised Eastern’s record to 10-9 overall and 4-5 in the Big Sky Conference. More importantly, it put the Eagles four games up on ISU (5-16, 1-10) in the battle for the sixth and final spot in the Big Sky tournament.

“It was huge win,” a relieved Aggers said after his team’s great escape. “You’ve got to beat the teams that are below you in the standings and you’ve got to protect your home turf.”

On this night, the Eagles did both. But not without overcoming some nervous moments spawned by ISU’s persistence.

The Bengals - playing without starting forward Cedric Robinson, who missed the trip with an injured hand - pushed the Eagles around on the low blocks most of the night, got to the foul line 14 more times than their counterparts and had several chances to nail down the upset late in the game.

Big Sky scoring leader Tywan Meadows finished with a game-high 30 points for ISU, and junior center Johnny Mitchell added 23.

“They’re the best 1-9 team I’ve seen in a long time,” Aggers said of the Bengals. “They’ve got athletes, they play good defense and they really took it to us in the paint.”

The Eagles had some extra help inside with the return of sophomore center Jason Humbert, who had missed almost five weeks with a broken hand. But they didn’t have the muscle to defend the 240-pound Skinner or Odel Stokes, a 250-pound reserve center who pulled down a game-high eight rebounds.

“But we found a way to win and that’s the important thing,” Aggers said.

The Eagles were paced offensively by senior forward Karim Scott, who scored 22 points, and sophomore point guard Deon Williams, who added 14 points, four assists and three steals.

But the biggest bucket belonged to Taylor, who was a second option - at best - on the final play Aggers had drawn up.

“We were going to have dribble penetration on a little pick-and-roll play, but they came out in a zone,” Aggers said. “Fortunately, Deon found Shannon and he made a one-on-one play.”

ISU coach Herb Williams said the heartbreaking loss was typical of the way the season has gone for the Bengals.

“All year long, that’s the way life goes,” he lamented. “We played hard, we were right there, but we just can’t get over the hill. But Eastern played well and did a good job.”

The Eagles get a chance to further separate themselves from the league’s bottom two teams Saturday night when they entertain cellar-dwelling Cal State Sacramento at 7:05.

Aggers said Scott, who had considered missing the Sac State game to fly home and attend the funeral of a friend, has decided to stay on campus and play.

E. Washington 78, Idaho St. 75

Idaho State (5-16, 1-10) - Meadows 11-17 5-6 30, Hearvey 0-0 0-0 0, Mitchell 9-17 5-7 23, Skinner 1-2 1-2 3, Culbreath 4-10 3-5 12, Brown 0-0 0-0 0, Sukut 0-1 0-0 0, Turner 0-0 0-0 0, Stokes 1-3 0-0 2, Junger 2-3 1-3 5. Totals 28-53 15-23 75.

Eastern Washington (10-9, 4-5) - Berger 1-4 0-0 2, Scott 10-16 1-1 22, K. Lewis 4-7 0-0 8, Williams 5-14 2-2 14, M. Lewis 2-6 2-4 7, McGee 2-2 0-0 5, Claus 0-0 0-0 0, Taylor 4-10 0-0 10, Sims 4-5 0-0 8, White 0-1 0-0 0, Humbert 0-3 2-2 2. Totals 32-68 7-9 78.

Halftime-E. Washington 43, Idaho St. 36. 3-Point goals-Idaho St. 4-8 (Meadows 3-6, Culbreath 1-2), E. Washington 7-19 (Scott 1-2, Williams 2-6, M. Lewis 1-4, McGee 1-1, Taylor 2-6.) Fouled out-None. Rebounds-Idaho St. 34 (Stokes 8), E. Washington 35 (Scott 7). Assists-Idaho St. 13 (Culbreath 7), E. Washington 16 (Williams, M. Lewis, Taylor, 4). Total fouls-Idaho St. 13, E. Washington 22. Technical-EWU coach. A-1,033.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color photo