Williams Carries Ewu In Road Win Scores 30 Points, Handles Northridge’S Pressure Defense

That’s some kind of homecoming.

Deon Williams, a Los Angeles native, scored 25 points Saturday to lead Eastern Washington to an 85-79 Big Sky Conference basketball victory over Cal State Northridge.

“Great win for us, a great road win for us,” said Eastern Washington coach Steve Aggers. “I think we did a good job defending the 3-pointers (CSUN was 6 of 25). I thought our defense was really huge and I thought we answered what they did very well.”

During a 2-minute spurt midway through the second half the Eagles countered each CSUN score with a layup or dunk as the Matadors failed to get back on defense.

Shannon Taylor added 16 points for Eastern Washington (5-8, 2-1 Big Sky).

“Taylor and Williams did a really nice job controlling the ball and taking care of it against Northridge’s trapping defense. I was pleased with the way Deon handled that pressure,” Aggers said. Eastern Washington led 32-26 at halftime, then shot 48 percent in the second half when the teams both scored 53 points.

“Considering we have only one senior and a relatively inexperienced team, I thought our guys kept their poise,” Aggers said. “We talked in a timeout about playing to win and not playing to keep from getting beaten. We didn’t panic and we kept our poise and composure.”

Eastern Washington hit 24 of 34 free throws, including 6 of 9 by Williams and 5 of 7 by reserve Alex Carcamo to hold off the Matadors.

For CSUN (9-7, 1-3), Derrick Higgins scored a career-high 26 points and Rico Harris added a career-high 22 points and 10 rebounds. The rest of the Matadors scored just 31 points and limped through a 10-of-32 shooting night. Sophomore forward Brian Heinle continued his skid with two points, 10 below his average.

It didn’t help that CSUN shot a miserable 17 of 34 from the free throw line.

Eastern Washington begins a four-game homestand Thursday when Sacramento State comes to Cheney.

“We have to protect our home court,” Aggers said. “We can savor this win, but it’s just one of 16 league games. We’ll enjoy it and it was a great win, but now we have to start getting ready for our next game and our homestand. But we are going to enjoy this one for a while, that’s for sure.”

EWU 85, CS Northridge 79

Eastern Washington (5-8) - Levy 0-0 3-4 3, White 3-7 1-2 7, Williams 8-15 6-9 25, McGee 3-5 1-2 8, Taylor 4-13 5-6 16, Hansen 1-3 2-2 4, Walker 1-2 0-0 3, Carcamo 1-5 5-7 7, Fitzgerald 1-4 0-0 3, Johnson 4-5 1-2 9. Totals 26-59 24-34 85.

CS Northridge (9-7) - Harris 8-18 2-7 22, Parris 3-4 1-3 7, Crowe 1-3 0-0 2, Holmes 1-6 0-0 3, Higgins 10-13 6-8 26, Larry 3-6 5-11 11, Minor 1-8 0-0 3, Carr 1-1 0-1 2, Heinle 0-4 2-2 2, Rolle 0-0 0-0 0, Welch 0-0 1-2 1. Totals 28-63 17-34 79.

Halftime-Eastern Washington 32, CS Northridge 26. 3-Point goals-Eastern Washington 9-25 (Williams 3-6, Taylor 3-9, McGee 1-2, Walker 1-2, Fitzgerald 1-4, Hansen 0-2), CS Northridge 6-25 (Harris 4-8, Holmes 1-6, Minor 1-6, Parris 0-1, Higgins 0-1, Larry 0-1, Heinle 0-2). Fouled out-Levy, White, Larry. Rebounds-Eastern Washington 39 (Taylor 10), CS Northridge 43 (Harris 10). Assists-Eastern Washington 15 (Williams, McGee, Taylor 4), CS Northridge 22 (Carr 7). Total fouls-Eastern Washington 29, CS Northridge 27. A-788.