Eastern’s Winning Outing Gets Good Marks From Coach

A two-game winning streak and subsequent 2-1 Big Sky Conference start has Eastern Washington University men’s basketball coach Steve Aggers pleased.

The Eagles’ latest victory came Thursday when they beat Cal State Sacramento 77-71 at Sacramento.

“We’re finding ways to win,” said Aggers, whose team is missing two injured starters. “We did what we had to do and showed some maturity, that was the main thing.”

For the Eagles, maturity showed in several ways. For one, they committed only nine turnovers. For another, they held the Hornets to 23 points in the first half.

“I was really happy with that,” Aggers said of the turnover count. “I’m really pleased with the progress we’ve made in that area.

“I was really pleased with our defensive effort. We came out with great intensity. Our defense was just smothering.”

Michael Lewis led Eastern with a career-best 24 points and Shannon Taylor had 22.

Sacramento State (1-10 overall, 0-1) trailed the entire game and was down by as many as 21 points in the second half.

Sac State’s Sedessa Fisher, who made three 3-pointers and converted 15 of 16 free throws, scored 22 of his game-high 32 points in the second half.

Eastern Wash. 77, Sac State 71

Eastern Washington (8-5, 2-1) - Lewis 7-9 7-10 24, Scott 5-9 1-2 11, Sims 1-6 0-2 2, Williams 1-5 0-0 2, Taylor 8-12 4-6 22, Stone 0-1 0-0 0, McGee 3-5 0-0 6, Claus 3-5 0-2 6, Lewis 3-10 0-0 6, White 2-5 0-0 4. Totals 30-64 12-20 77.

Sacramento State (1-10, 0-1) - Drakeford 3-7 2-3 8, Jorissen 1-2 0-0 2, Houston 9-17 2-5 20, Fisher 7-16 15-16 32, Coleman 1-2 0-0 3, Hoogenbosch 0-0 0-0 0, Matthews 0-2 0-0 0, Hardy 0-1 0-0 0, Landry 0-0 0-0 0, Wright 0-1 3-4 3, Ranney 1-1 1-2 3, Clark 0-0 0-0 0, Johnson 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 22-49 23-30 71.

Halftime - Eastern Washington 36, Sacramento State 23. 3-point goals - Eastern Washington 5-13 (Lewis 3-4, Williams 0-3, Taylor 2-4, McGee 0-2), Sacramento State 4-13 (Drakeford 0-1, Jorissen 0-1, Houston 0-1, Fisher 3-7, Coleman 1-2, Hardy 0-1). Fouled out - White. Rebounds - Eastern Washington 33 (Scott 7), Sacramento State 37 (Houston 14). Assists - Eastern Washington 20 (Williams 8), Sacramento State 10 (Drakeford 4). Total fouls - Eastern Washington 23, Sacramento State 20. Technicals - None. A - 726.

, DataTimes