Eagles’ Big Rally Falls Short Against Lumberjacks

Being down by 20 on the road against two-time conference champions isn’t a good position to be in.

And that’s where the Eastern Washington men’s basketball team found itself Thursday night with 9 minutes, 14 seconds remaining in a Big Sky Conference game at Northern Arizona.

The result, despite a strong rally by the Eagles, was an 80-67 victory for the Lumberjacks.

“They are a very experienced basketball team,” EWU coach Steve Aggers said of the Lumberjacks (11-3, 3-0 Big Sky). “Every time we made a run, they would execute, get a good shot, and push the lead back up.”

The rally by Eastern Washington (4-8, 1-1) was highlighted by a pair of 3-pointers by Shannon Taylor - one at 1:05 remaining, the other at :45 - to cut the Eagles’ deficit to 69-61. NAU’s lead had been 58-38.

But in the final 40 seconds, Northern Arizona answered by making 9 of 10 free throws.

“You can’t go on the road against a team like NAU and play in spurts. You have to have a more consistent effort,” Eggers said.

Taylor had a game-high 27 points for the Eagles. Deon Williams had 12.

Northern Arizona 80, EWU 67

Eastern Washington (4-8, 1-1) - Levy 1-2 0-0 2, Taylor 10-17 1-2 27, White 1-4 0-0 2, Williams 5-12 0-0 12, McGee 1-2 0-0 2, Quinto 0-0 0-0 0, Hansen 2-8 0-0 6, Walker 1-2 0-0 3, Carcamo 0-4 0-0 0, Fitzgerald 3-5 0-0 7, Johnson 3-3 0-1 6. Totals 27-59 1-3 67.

Northern Arizona (11-3, 3-0) - Land 7-9 1-1 21, Wolthers 3-4 4-4 11, Frank 5-7 1-2 11, McNair 4-9 0-0 8, Akina 2-6 4-5 8, Gebhardt 0-0 0-0 0, McGrath 1-3 0-0 2, Hutchings 1-4 4-4 6, McClintock 4-8 5-6 13. Totals 27-50 19-22 80.

Halftime-Northern Arizona 38, Eastern Washington 25. 3-Point goals-Eastern Washington 12-30 (Taylor 6-12, Hansen 2-6, Williams 2-7, Walker 1-2, Fitzgerald 1-2, McGee 0-1), Northern Arizona 7-14 (Land 6-6, Wolthers 1-1, McGrath 0-1, Hutchings 0-1, Akina 0-2, McNair 0-3). Total fouls- Eastern Washington 19, Northern Arizona 10. Rebounds-Eastern Washington 29 (White 8), Northern Arizona 38 (McClintock 6). Assists-Eastern Washington 11 (Williams 7), Northern Arizona 18 (McNair 6). Technical fouls- Levy, Frank. A-2,011.