Eagles Can’T Cash In, Lose In 4Th Overtime

Four times Eastern Washington had a shot to win the game and four times the Eagles couldn’t get a lucky bounce off a forgiving rim.

That left Eastern on the disappointing end of an amazing college basketball game Saturday night.

In the first quadruple overtime game in EWU history, Weber State pulled out a 101-100 Big Sky Conference win before 1,360 drained fans at Reese Court.

“That was a great college basketball game,” disappointed EWU coach Steve Aggers said. “Two teams just going at each other head-to-head. Both teams had opportunities to win several different times.”

Damien Baskerville hit the winning free throw with 4 seconds left. And it came after it appeared the Eagles fouled him intentionally despite the game being tied at 100 following a short shot from the lane by Alex Caracamo with 10 seconds to play. The Eagles still had a chance but Deon Williams’ flier from the lane bounced off the rim.

That capped a wild game. Twice Weber led by six, late in the first half and midway through the second.

Eastern’s biggest lead was five, when Shannon Taylor opened the first overtime with a 3-pointer and Tony McGee followed with a steal and layup. That almost lasted until the end, when Eddie Gill put up a 25-footer from the right wing with 7 seconds left to tie the game at 74.

The lead changed hands 32 times and there were 21 ties.

Ultimately, the difference was the experience of the Wildcats. Weber is 14-5 overall and 5-1 in league while the Eagles are 6-9, 3-2.

With less than 5 minutes to go in regulation, it was a two-point game, despite junior Harold Arceneaux, who averages 20 points a game, hitting just 4 of 12 shots and Eastern holding a 39-25 edge on the boards.

The Eagles’ problem was turnovers. They finished with 25.

When the game ended, Arceneaux was 15 of 34 and had 38 points. The Wildcats had closed the rebounding gap to two and by pounding the ball inside while EWU was shooting 33 3-pointers (12 makes), Weber State went to the foul line 33 times and made 24 to the Eagles 10 of 14.

“Arceneaux was the man, he was the difference,” Aggers said. “You can’t keep a good player like that down. Give him credit.” Arceneaux had 18 points in regulation, but, posting up on the block, more than doubled that in the third 20 minutes.

“When they had Eddie Gill in there, we couldn’t double down. He’s a 50-percent 3-point shooter,” Aggers said. “When he fouled out (late in the second OT), we didn’t have the experience to double down. We haven’t done much of that this year.”

Arceneaux had two points in the first overtime, six in the second, eight in the third and four in the fourth.

“Coach wanted to get it to me down low because we felt they were a little tired,” the junior college All-American from New Orleans said. “We were surprised they didn’t double me, so we just took advantage of it. I think that hurt them a little bit. They were the first team not to double me.”

Arceneaux helped hide a lot of EWU heroics. Dennis Fitzgerald came off the bench for a career-high 21 points, hitting 5 of 6 3’s. Chris White grabbed 12 rebounds, though the five on the offensive end he refused to put back up. Taylor had 24 points, Williams 22 on a number of tough shots, and Carcamo a career-high 16.

“The difference may have been down the stretch is they might be a little more experienced,” Aggers said.

“I’m upset, we had chances to win. But I’m proud of these guys. They battled and competed. That’s a quality team we played… . We kept our poise.”

Weber St. 101, EWU 100 (4OT)

Weber State (14-5) - Baskerville 6-13 4-9 16, Arceneaux 15-34 8-10 38, Jensen 5-8 3-4 13, Gill 5-16 4-4 18, Jackson 3-13 2-2 8, Ketcham 0-4 3-4 3, Moore 1-4 0-0 3, Lawson 0-0 0-0 0, Haws 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 36-93 24-33 101.

Eastern Washington (6-9) - Levy 1-1 0-0 2, Taylor 7-18 4-4 24, White 2-6 0-0 4, Williams 10-25 2-6 22, McGee 3-5 0-0 6, Hansen 1-8 0-0 3, Walker 0-1 0-0 0, Carcamo 6-11 4-4 16, Fitzgerald 8-10 0-0 21, Johnson 1-3 0-0 2. Totals 39-88 10-14 100.

Halftime-Weber St. 34, E. Washington 30. 3-Point goals- Weber St. 5-18 (Gill 4-9, Moore 1-2, Jackson 0-3, Baskerville 0-2, Arceneaux 0-1, Ketcham 0-1) E. Washington 12-33 (Taylor 6-13, Fitzgerald 5-6, Hansen 1-6, Williams 0-6, Walker 0-1, McGee 0-1). Fouled out-Weber St., Gill. Rebounds-Weber St. 55 (Arceneaux 14), E. Washington 57 (White 12). Assists-Weber St. 16 (Baskerville 4) E. Washington 19 (Williams 5). Total fouls- Weber St. 18, E. Washington 24. A-1,360.