EWU cruises with defense, 3-pointers

It started and ended with the seniors, but in between it was a night for every Eagle.

Four Eastern Washington University basketball players, in their final appearance at Reese Court, provided the energy that led the Eagles to a 77-35 Big Sky Conference romp over Idaho State on Saturday night.

The Eagles matched the school record with 15 3-pointers. The 35 points allowed were the fewest in 592 games as a Division I school.

“It was the four seniors, it their last night,” said EWU junior Deuce Smith, who had a breakout game with 24 points, five rebounds and three blocks. “Personally for me, it was the last time I was going to walk out here with these guys. I wanted them to go out with the bang. I wanted them to remember me and their last game on this court.”

They certainly will.

With Smith, a 6-foot-3 guard, leading the way, the Eagles dominated every aspect of the game.

It started with the 15 3-pointers (on 32 attempts) by six different players. Eastern shot 53 percent overall, held ISU to 25 percent shooting and had a 38-21 edge in rebounding.

Idaho State was limited to three 3-point attempts and didn’t make any.

“The seniors went out there and did a great job early, but when we brought the others in they really wanted to win this game and send those kids out the right way,” Eastern coach Mike Burns said. “If I knew this, I would have senior night every home game this year. I was proud of them - great effort.”

The last time a team scored fewer points against the Eagles was Dec. 30, 1950, when EWU defeated Washington State 53-34. But more important for the Eagles, it ended a five-game losing streak and moved them a game ahead of Northern Arizona in the battle for the final berth in the Big Sky Conference Tournament.

Eastern (8-17 overall, 5-7 league) finishes the regular season with the Montana road trip next week. NAU (11-15, 4-8) is home against Sacramento State on Saturday and Montana on Feb. 28.

“We talked about it before the game that tonight was a playoff game for us,” Burns said. “When you combine that with the fact that it was senior night, the guys knew what was at stake and they came out and played with focus.”

The Eagles came out smoking with senior reserves Khary Nicholas, Jeremy McCulloch and Raci Wortham joining star Marc Axton in the starting lineup. It was the first start in the two-year career of Nicholas and Wortham, the fifth for McCulloch and 96th straight for Axton.

After the Bengals scored the opening basket, Axton hit a 3-pointer to start a 9-0 run that included baskets from Nicholas, who finished with a game-high six rebounds, and McCulloch.

“I loved it,” Nicholas said. “It was fun. Everybody was making the extra pass and everybody was looking out for the seniors. Knowing it was our last game, we had to bring it on and had to leave it out on the court.”

The Eagles had eight 3-pointers and shot 50 percent in rolling to a 36-19 lead in the first half. Then the Bengals, who missed their last two shots and had three turnovers in the final 5:20 of the first half, went 12:32 of the second half without a field goal, stretching their string of misses to 17. In that span, ISU made 7 of 10 free throws and fell behind 63-26.

The Bengals (9-17, 3-10), officially eliminated from a shot at the Big Sky tournament, finished the half 2 of 20.

All 13 Eagles played at least 5 minutes and eight scored. Axton, sixth on the career scoring list, had 11 and junior guard Danny Pariseau added 10. Both had four assists

Though Smith is new to the program, he has bonded with the seniors.

“They are really humble and unselfish,” he said. “They help you out when times are bad and praise you when things are going good. They have done a lot for this program.”

E. Washington 77, Idaho St. 35

Idaho State (9-17, 3-10)–Kinghorn 3-14 1-2 7, Stevens 1-4 4-4 6, Smith 0-4 0-0 0, Lewis 0-3 1-2 1, Gardner 1-1 2-2 4, Hardy 2-7 4-6 8, Rede 0-2 1-2 1, D’Amore 2-2 0-0 4, Rhodes 0-2 0-2 0, Millien 1-1 2-2 4. Totals 10-40 15-22 35.

Eastern Washington (8-17, 5-7)–Axton 4-13 0-0 11, Nicholas 2-3 0-1 4, McCulloch 2-3 1-2 5, Pariseau 4-5 0-0 10, Wortham 0-1 0-0 0, Scheffler 2-5 0-0 6, Henkel 2-2 0-0 6, Butorac 0-0 0-0 0, Smith 7-10 8-10 26, Bekkering 0-0 0-0 0, Nelson 1-2 0-1 2, Loe 1-1 1-2, 4, Beitinger 1-4 0-0 3. Totals 26-49 10-16 77.

Halftime–EWU 36, ISU 19. 3-point goals–ISU 0-3 , EWU 15-32 (Smith 4-7, Axton 3-11, Pariseau 2-2, Henkel 2-2, Scheffler 2-5, Loe 1-1, Beitinger 1-3, Wortham 0-1). Fouled out–none. Rebounds–ISU 21 (Kinghorn 5), EWU 38 (Nicholas 6). Assists–ISU 2 (Kinghorn, Rhodes 1), EWU 19 (Axton, Pariseau 4). Total fouls–ISU 21, EWU 19. A–2,311.