Giacoletti, Eagles Make Statement With Comeback Win Over Spartans

Ray Giacoletti in his first year is far from the winningest head basketball coach in the nation, but he already may be the loudest.

And judging from his team’s 71-62 win over San Jose State on Saturday night, somebody’s listening.

Cashing in on eight of their first nine shots of the second half - 13 of their first 14 counting free throws - Giacoletti’s Eastern Washington Eagles came from six down in the first half to win a war of wills before 2,201 at Reese Court.

Combining the best of the old regime - the shooting of senior point Jamal Jones - with a touch of the new, Eastern won for the third time in five games.

The new kid is versatile freshman Alvin Snow, who sank 7 of his 11 shots in a career-high 18-point night. With Jones knocking down 5 of 8 on his way to 18, the Eagles had enough accuracy to stave off disaster.

Up by 15 with 10:44 left, EWU’s lead had dwindled to 61-58 when senior Kareem Hunter missed two free throws with 3:37 left. At that point the mistake-plagued Eagles seemed on the verge of cracking.

But Chris White came through with two free throws and Jones drilled an 18-foot jump shot at 2:18. With that, the Eagles had enough of an edge to hold off the 3-2 Spartans.

“We’re not going to win pretty,” Giacoletti said. “We’re going to win by getting out after people. The first 5 minutes of the second half were huge. The first 5 minutes set the tone for the last 15.”

All but ignoring the 3-point shot in the first half - they were 1 of 5 in the opening 20-minute set - the Eagles were down 33-29 when they got 3-pointers from Marco Quinto, Clint Hull and Jones to surge ahead 51-38.

Playing without their best long-range shooter, Aaron Olson, the gifts from the freshman Hull and the veteran Quinto were critical to the game-winning 26-7 run that left them with that 15-point lead with 10:44 to go.

With 18 turnovers - a half-dozen of those in the late stretch when the Spartans jumped back in the game - the Eagles survived with second-half shooting accuracy. They hit on 11 of only 16 second-half shots, nearly 70 percent.

White had a solid 11-point, seven-rebound effort despite seeing only 22 minutes of action. Billy Landram, son of former Chewelah coach Drew Landram, scored nine for the Spartans.

E. Washington 71, San Jose St. 62

San Jose State (3-2) - Landram 3-5 2-2 9, Williams 4-5 2-3 10, Granucci 2-3 0-0 4, Garrett 3-10 2-2 8, Funderburk 2-5 1-3 5, Sonnenberg0-3 4-5 4, Okunrinboye 0-0 0-0 0, Knight 3-3 3-6 9, Pwell 5-8 2-4 13, Thurmond 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 22-45 16-25 62.

Eastern Washington (3-2) - Hunter 2-3 0-2 4, Snow 7-11 4-8 18, White 2-3 7-8 11, Lewis 1-3 5-7 7, Jones 5-8 6-6 18, Hull 1-1 2-2 5, Lincoln 0-0 0-0 0, Quinto 2-4 0-0 5, Poole 1-5 1-2 3, Humbert 0-1 0-1 0, Johnson 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 21-50 25-36 71.

Halftime-San Jose State 31, Eastern Washington 29. 3-point goals-San Jose State 2-4 (Landram 1-1, Powell 1-1, Garrett 0-2), Eastern Washington 4-8 (Jones 2-4, Hull 1-1, Quinto 1-2, Lewis 0-1). Fouled out-Williams, Garrett, Powell. Rebounds-San Jose State 21 (Powell 5), Eastern Washington 31 (Humbert 9). Assists-San Jose State 10 (Garrett 3), Eastern Washington 15 (Jones 4). Total fouls-San Jose State 29, Eastern Washington 22. Technicals-San Jose State bench. A-2,201.