Eastern Makes No Apologies In Easy Victory Eagles Throttle Undermanned, Winless Sacramento State

This one will go down in the record book - and as far as Steve Aggers is concerned, you can scrap the asterisk.

Eastern Washington’s 45-point victory margin in Thursday night’s 87-42 men’s basketball rout of Cal State Sacramento was the largest in school history against a Big Sky Conference opponent.

Granted, it came at the expense of a young and winless Hornets team that was missing three front-line regulars - including senior forward Sean Houston, one of the most versatile players in the Big Sky.

But Aggers, despite the strides Eastern has made in his four seasons as coach, was quick to point out that his program has still not reached the level where it can throw back victories.

“Never, ever apologize for winning,” he said, after watching his Eagles (6-8, 3-1 Big Sky) overcome a ratty start and several minor mental letdowns during the game, which was witnessed by a Reese Court crowd of 1,235.

Senior guard Shannon Taylor did some early 3-point sniping for Eastern and finished with a game-high 22 points in just 22 minutes. Three reserves - Darrell Walker, Alex Carcamo and Dennis Fitzgerald - also scored in double figures as the Eagles won their second straight and fourth in the last five games.

“Certainly, we’ve got to keep things in perspective,” Aggers admitted. “They didn’t have their best player and leading scorer in Sean Houston, and I’m sure that had a huge effect on the outcome of the game.

“Obviously, we wish he would have played. Any time you play an opponent, you want them at their best, win or lose, so that was the tough part. But it was a league win that kept us in the race. I’m happy for our team.”

Houston suffered a hip pointer during practice this week and joined junior forward Anthony Flood (broken foot) and freshman forward Arinze Anouro, whose father was shot to death during a Jan. 8 convenience store holdup in San Francisco, on Sac State’s inactive list.

That left second-year coach Tom Abatemarco dramatically short of weapons.

The Eagles limited the Hornets (0-13, 0-3) to 23.8 percent (15 of 63) shooting from the field, including 16.7 percent (4 of 24) from 3-point range, and forced 20 turnovers. They also won the rebounding battle 52-44 and produced a season-high 23 assists.

Junior point guard Deon Williams scored only six points, but finished with six assists and two steals while helping hold Sac State guard Nate Murase to three points - more than 16 under his 19.5 average against Big Sky opponents.

“I thought Deon had a great game leadership-wise,” Aggers said. “He’s beginning to emerge as a floor leader and really take charge of this team. And he also did a great job on Murase.”

Williams’ backup, Darrell Walker, contributed as well, coming off the bench to knock down three early 3-pointers when the Eagles were struggling against Sac State’s zone. Walker finished with 13 points and five assists. Carcamo also scored 13 and Dennis Fitzgerald added 10.

Sac State was paced by Thomas Wieck, who scored 12.

Eastern stays at home to play Weber State, one of the three preseason Big Sky favorites, at 7:05 p.m. Saturday.

EWU 87, Sacramento St. 42

Sacramento State (0-13, 0-3) - Wieck 5-13 1-4 12, Landry 0-7 0-1 0, Selvey 3-7 2-6 8, Jacques 3-7 3-3 10, Murase 1-13 0-0 3, Malone 0-5 0-0 0, Bailey 3-7 0-0 7, Jorissen 0-4 2-4 2. Totals 15-63 8-18 42.

Eastern Washington (6-8, 3-1) - Levy 1-4 0-0 2, Taylor 7-12 3-3 22, White 1-6 2-3 4, Williams 3-7 0-0 6, McGee 0-4 0-0 0, Quinto 3-4 0-0 8, Hansen 2-7 0-0 5, Walker 4-8 2-2 13, Carcamo 5-7 3-4 13, Fitzgerald 4-8 0-0 10, Johnson 2-6 0-0 4. Totals 32-73 10-12 87.

Halftime - Eastern Washington 40, Sacramento State 16. 3-point goals - Sacramento State 4-24 (Bailey 1-2, Wieck 1-3, Jacques 1-4, Murase 1-10, Jorissen 0-2, Malone 0-3), Eastern Washington 13-31 (Taylor 5-9, Walker 3-6, Quinto 2-2, Fitzgerald 2-5, Hansen 1-4, Williams 0-2, McGee 0-3). Fouled out - White. Rebounds - Sacramento State 44 (Wieck, Jacques 7), Eastern Washington 52 (Carcamo, Fitzgerald 8). Assists - Sacramento State 8 (Murase 5), Eastern Washington 23 (Williams 7). Total fouls - Sacramento State 14, Eastern Washington 17. Technicals - None. A - 1,235.