Turnovers help haunt Eagles
SAN DIEGO – Eastern Washington jumped out to a 9-2 lead, but that was as good as it got for the shorthanded Eagles as they lost to San Diego 75-56 Monday in a non-conference men’s basketball game at the Jenny Craig Pavilion.
The Eagles allowed San Diego to go on an 11-0 run in the first half, and runs of 6-0 and 9-0 in the second half to open a 22-point lead. The Eagles fell to 2-5 with their third-straight loss. The Toreros improved to 4-5.
“We struggled at times offensively tonight and this season,” Eagles coach Mike Burns said. “We got up early … and I felt like we were in a good position. We didn’t take advantage.”
Senior Marc Axton paced the Eagles with 15 points, including 5 of 5 from the free throw line, where he’s made his last 13 in a row. Freshman Jake Beitinger had 12 points – his third straight double-figure game.
Nick Lewis, in his first start of the season, and Brandon Gay scored 19 points apiece to lead San Diego.
Eastern made 49 percent of its shots from the field, but finished with 22 turnovers. Eastern is averaging 20.9 turnovers per game this season.
Eastern played its fifth straight game without injured forward Henry Bekkering (shoulder injury) and its first without starting center Matt Nelson (broken hand). Nelson was last year’s Big Sky Conference freshman of the year.
San Diego 75, EWU 56
Eastern Washington (2-5) — Axton 4-8 5-5 15, Beitinger 6-13 0-0 12, Botorac 3-5 1-1 7, Smith 2-4 0-0 4, Loe 0-2 0-0 0, Scheffler 2-6 0-0 5, Henkel 2-3 0-0 4, Pariseau 1-3 0-1 3, McCulloch 0-0 0-0 0, Wortham 1-1 0-0 2, Nicholas 2-2 0-1 4. Totals 23-47 6-8 56.
San Diego (4-5) — Gay 8-18 2-2 19, Lewis 7-10 3-3 19, Vounang 5-7 0-0 10, Fogel 3-5 0-0 6, Belser 2-6 0-0 5, Derogatis 3-5 0-0 7, Traaen 0-1 0-0 7, White 0-0 2-2 2, Shepherd 2-4 3-4 7, Bonifer 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 30-57, 10-11, 75.
Halftime—San Diego 34, Eastern Washington 26. 3-point goals—Eastern Washington 4-13 (Axton 2-4, Beitinger 0-1, Loe 0-1, Scheffler 1-5, Pariseau 1-2). San Diego 5-16 (Gay 1-4, Lewis 2-4, Fogel 0-1, Belser 1-3, Derogatis 1-3, Bonifer 0-1). Fouled out—Fogel. Rebounds—Eastern Washington 20 (Butorac 6), San Diego 32 (Gay 7). Assists—Eastern Washington 11 (Loe 5), San Diego 17 (Fogel 4, Belser 4). Total fouls—Eastern Washington 19, San Diego 18. A—735.