Williams Status Uncertain
An abscessed tooth could limit the availability of Eastern Washington University’s starting point guard Deon Williams for tonight’s 7:05 Big Sky Conference men’s basketball matchup against Montana State at Reese Court.
Williams, a 6-foot-2 sophomore who is averaging 12.1 points and a league-high 5.9 assists, did not practice Monday or Tuesday, and Eagles coach Steve Aggers said he might not be certain of Williams’ status until game time.
“We’re concerned about him,” Aggers said Wednesday. “He has a chipped tooth that got infected over the weekend, and his jaw looks like George Foreman’s after Ali got done with him.”
According to Aggers, Williams started taking antibiotics for the swelling Tuesday morning.
“They can’t cap the tooth until the swelling goes down, so they’re just trying to treat the infection right now,” he said. “The concern we have is that he hasn’t been able to practice, and he’s a major part of our team.”
Williams scored 31 points and made 15 assists last week as the Eagles (12-10 overall, 6-6 Big Sky Conference) split on the road against Cal State Northridge and league-leading Northern Arizona.
Williams has started every game and has averaged more than 32 minutes of playing time. In his brief absences, junior Shannon Taylor and freshman Tony McGee have played the point.
Seeding frenzy
Eastern has already clinched its first Big Sky tournament berth in eight seasons, but still has plenty to play for, according to Aggers. “We’ve had a successful season so far,” the third-year coach said, “but we’re obviously playing for seeding now.”
With Portland State, ineligible for postseason play, factored out of the tournament picture, the Eagles are fifth in the league standings, which determine seeding for the tournament. They can dramatically enhance their position by sweeping third-place MSU (17-7, 9-4) and fourth-place Montana (15-11, 8-5), which invades Reese Court Saturday.
“Things are really up for grabs,” said Aggers, whose Eagles are 8-1 at home. “Third place is not out of the realm of possibility for us, and that’s what we’re shooting for.”
Where to?
The six-team tournament field is set, but the site of this year’s event - which starts Thursday, March 5 - has yet to be determined.
As in years past, the tournament will be held in the arena of the regular-season champion. Four teams - Northern Arizona, Weber State, Montana State and Montana - still have a chance to win the title.
Defending champion NAU is tied with Weber State for first place at 9-3, MSU is a half-game back at 8-4 and Montana is another game off the pace at 8-5.
The late-season league schedule seems to favor NAU, which plays three of its last four games against teams in the bottom third of the standings. The title could be decided Saturday night when the Lumberjacks entertain Weber State in Flagstaff, Ariz.
Weber also has road games remaining at Cal State Northridge (tonight) and Cal State Sacramento, along with a home matchup against Portland State (8-4).
MSU faces a devastating stretch of road games. After tonight’s stop at Eastern, the Bobcats travel to Portland State on Saturday before closing the regular season at archrival Montana next Saturday.
Montana, at 8-5, has won four in a row but is still a long shot, at best.
Missing stroke
Montana State guard Danny Sprinkle, one of the top 3-point shooters in Big Sky history, is mired in a horrendous shooting slump.
The 6-2 senior, who has made 138 career 3-pointers, has missed all 19 shots he has taken in MSU’s last three games. Not surprisingly, the Bobcats have gone 0-3 since Sprinkle made his last trey.
Notes
Montana senior Ryan Dick missed his first start in 25 games when he sat out last Thursday’s 61-51 win over Sac State with a sore knee… . With 30 points in each of last week’s losses to Northridge and Northern Arizona, MSU’s Nate Holmstadt became the first Bobcat to score 30 or more points in back-to-back games since Tom Domako in 1988… . Holmstadt, a 6-8 junior forward, is the only Division I player to rank among the nation’s top 20 in both field-goal percentage (61.6) and free-throw percentage (87.8)… . NAU was a perfect 21 for 21 from the foul line in last Thursday’s 87-54 triumph over Portland State.
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