Eagles Struggle But Don’T Fail Ewu Finds Stride After Slow Start, Whips Isu

They didn’t bring their A game. By their own admission, they didn’t even deserve a B.

But after the Eastern Washington Eagles bombed Idaho State by 23 Thursday night to retain their half-game lead in the Big Sky Conference basketball race, nobody really cared.

“This was our C game,” said EWU senior Deon Williams, whose 5-for-7 shooting and airtight play from the point were factors in the Eagles’ 87-64 walk over the Bengals on EWU’s Reese Court. “But C’s get you degrees.”

This degree didn’t come without honors.

When Idaho State threatened early by hogging every rebound and mining for Silva - 6-foot-11 Doug Silva gave Eastern fits early - Eagles center Chris White started denying the Bengals the second and third shots that kept them close.

White ended the night tying a 7-year-old school record with his 59th career blocked shot.

When the need came for a hot hand, Eastern’s Aaron Olson met the demand with 13 first-half points.

Olson, Ryan Hansen, Williams, White and Kareem Hunter scored in double figures. And Will Levy, back from a one-game conference-mandated suspension - had nine points to go with his game-high 12 rebounds.

That Eastern could shoot 54 percent, win their fourth straight and act like a first-place team in the process sent 1,738 out the door looking forward to Saturday night’s rematch with Sacramento State.

Eastern has won 10 of its last 12. More impressively, in their last four games the Eagles are beating opponents by an average of 86-69.

They were down 17-10 after 6 minutes of this one when they turned up the pace with an early half-court trap that took ISU out of its lob-to-Silva half-court offense. Helped along by the quickness of sixth-man Jamal Jones, the Eagles dictated the tempo the rest of the way.

Defense had much to do with Eastern’s 12th win of the season. ISU’s foul-plagued all-Big Sky guard Kevin Sweetwyne was held to a single point.

“We tried to make him play defense and put him in a position to draw some fouls,” EWU coach Steve Aggers said. “He’s certainly the heart of their team. Once he picked up his third foul (with 2 minutes left in the first half) we went right at him.”

Sweetwyne said the Eagles are still playing off the emotion of their one-point win in Pocatello last month, when Hansen’s 55-footer ended the game.

“They got a high off that shot and they’re still playing on emotion,” Sweetwyne said. “I guess you can say they’re legit. They’re in first place. You can’t take that from ‘em.”

So the Eagle Express continues to roll, even on cruise control. How much longer before Aggers’ name starts popping up in speculation prior to coach-hunting season around the country?

That may be inevitable but for now Aggers, like all coaches clinging to late-February conference leads, is applauding each success while not looking too far beyond the next challenge.

“We’ve got a tough game coming up with Sac State, which is a pressing, trapping kind of a team,” he said. “One of the keys tonight was Aaron’s shooting that forced them out of their zone. They had to go man-to-man. Earlier, their zone had us standing around.

“I don’t think either team played exceptionally well. I shouldn’t comment on their team but we were a little sluggish. We knew we had to rebound to win and they had 10 offensive rebounds on us the first half.

“We certainly have a lot to do on the practice floor.”

E. Washington 87, Idaho St. 64

Idaho St. (7-17) - Johnson 2-9 1-1 5, Robinson 6-9 2-3 14, Silva 6-12 4-5 16, Brown 4-10 1-1 13, Sweetwyne 0-4 1-4 1, Sukut 0-1 0-0 0, Anderson 0-2 3-4 3, Erickson 2-11 0-1 5, Bradley 1-2 2-2 4, Nelson 0-2 2-2 2, Tracy 0-1 1-2 1. Totals 21-63 17-25 64.

E. Washington (12-9) - Olson 6-9 2-2 18, Hunter 3-6 4-6 10, White 4-6 3-4 11, Williams 5-7 1-2 12, Hansen 5-11 0-2 13, Levy 3-8 3-7 9, Quinto 1-1 0-0 3, Jones 2-5 0-0 5, Fitzgerald 1-1 1-2 4, McKie 1-3 0-0 2. Totals 31-57 14-25 87.

Halftime-E. Washington 40, Idaho St. 32. 3-Point goals-Idaho St. 5-15 (Brown 4-6, Erickson 1-2, Johnson 0-4, Sweetwyne 0-1, Sukut 0-1, Bradley 0-1), E. Washington 11-19 (Olson 4-6, Hansen 3-6, Williams 1-3, Quinto 1-1, Jones 1-2, Fitzgerald 1-1). Fouled out-Fitzgerald. Rebounds-Idaho St. 38 (Robinson 10), E. Washington 39 (Levy 12). Assists-Idaho St. 7 (Brown, Sweetwyne 2), E. Washington 19 (Williams 5). Total fouls-Idaho St. 21, E. Washington 23. T-Brown, Fitzgerald. A-1,738.