Playing with confidence and emotion, the Eastern Washington University Eagles demonstrated again Friday night that they’re a basketball team that knows how to close a deal.

Reese Court hasn’t been a real rockin’ house the last few years, but more than 3,000 fans cheered the Eagles to a 93-86 victory over Portland State in the regular-season finale that gave EWU big-time momentum heading into next week’s Big Sky Conference tournament.

The Eagles (16-10, 10-6) need a Montana win over Montana State in Missoula tonight to get the No. 3 seed, but for the first time in eight years they get the chance to play in March, and the way they finished February was something to shout about.

Friday’s win over PSU, ineligible for the conference tournament in its first year but in third place going in, was Eastern’s fourth straight victory, seventh in its last eight games and gave the Eagles a 10-0 mark in games decided by eight or fewer points.

To do it, they outscored the Vikings 14-4 in the last 3:19 after Jason Hartman’s 3-pointer had given Portland State an 82-79 lead. And they did it without junior guard Shannon Taylor, who fouled out with nearly 4 minutes left after scoring a game-high 24 points.

Deon Williams tied it with a 3 at the 3-minute mark and gave the Eagles an 84-82 lead with a drive and pull-up jump shot with 2:17 to go.

EWU held an 86-84 lead and the alarm was about to go off on the shot clock when Michael Lewis drove the lane for a layin with 59 seconds left. PSU closed to 89-86 with 32 seconds left, but freshman guard Tony McGee hit two free throws at 0:20 and the Vikings came up empty after that.

“That was a great college basketball game!” EWU coach Steve Aggers said afterward. “Our crowd was outstanding … it was so refreshing and exciting to be a part of that, to see the kind of energy out there tonight.”

The evening began with ceremonies honoring EWU’s five seniors and also Rod McClure, the Eagles player who was killed by a drunken driver 14 months ago in an automobile accident. The Eagles seniors and Aggers, openly emotional, presented a framed jersey to McClure’s mother.

“The evening started out very emotional, a very serious moment,” said Aggers, and senior Karim Scott echoed those sentiments.

“That was hard,” said Scott. “I’m an emotional guy, and it was really personal for me. It was hard to change from that kind of feeling to competing right away. It took a while to calm down and regain our composure.”

Taylor was 4 for 4 from outside the arc in the first half and the Eagles had seven offensive rebound baskets, but they trailed the Vikings 47-45 at the break after being down seven points earlier. Part of their problem was rebounding at the defensive end EWU had 12 offensive boards, only seven off the Vikings glass.

The second half was a nail-biter all the way, tied six times, the last at 79 before Hartman’s 3 gave PSU its last lead.

Williams and Scott scored 14 points each for the Eagles and Kevin Lewis added 11. Scott and Michael Lewis each had eight rebounds as Eastern had a huge 48-24 edge.

Portland State’s Brian Towne hit five 3s and led the Vikings with 24 points. Hartman had 13 in the second half and finished with 18, but made only 5 of 15 field-goal attempts. Taylor, who scored 33 against Idaho State on Wednesday, missed only 2 of 10 shots and hit 5 of 6 3-pointers.

EWU 93, PSU 86

Portland St. (15-12, 10-6) - Nesland 5-7 2-2 13, Hartman 5-15 4-4 18, Sanford 5-9 3-4 13, Towne 7-13 5-7 20, Ambrose 4-5 1-3 10, Mvogo 0-0 1-2 1, Snook 0-1 2-2 2, Garner 0-0 1-2 1, Artharee 1-4 2-2 4. Totals 27-54 21-28 86.

EWU (16-10, 10-6) - Berger 3-6 1-2 7, Scott 4-10 6-8 14, K. Lewis 5-6 1-2 11, Claus 0-0 0-0 0, M. Lewis 3-9 1-2 8, Williams 5-12 2-4 14, McGee 0-2 2-4 2, Taylor 8-10 3-5 24, Sims 2-3 2-2 6, White 2-5 0-1 4, Humbert 1-1 1-2 3. Totals 33-64 19-34 93.

Halftime-Portland St. 47, E. Washington 45. 3-point goals- Portland St. 11-20 (Nesland 1-2, Hartman 4-8, Towne 5-7, Ambrose 1-2, Snook 0-1), E. Washington (Scott 0-3, M. Lewis 1-3, Williams 2-6, Taylor 5-6). Fouled out-Taylor. Rebounds-Portland St. 24 (Sanford 8), E. Washington 48 (Scott, M. Lewis, 8). Assists- Portland St. 12 (Nesland, Towne, 3), E. Washington 16 (Williams 6). Total fouls-Portland St. 26, E. Washington 24. Technicals- Hartman, Berger, Scott, Humbert. A-3,048.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color photo