Stuckey scores 31 points as EWU ends skid at five

PORTLAND – Freshman Rodney Stuckey scored 31 points and Eastern Washington snapped a five-game losing streak with an 89-70 victory over Portland State Saturday night.

Paul Butorac added 16 points and five rebounds, and the Eagles (6-10, 1-2 Big Sky) led by as many as 22 points to spoil the Vikings’ conference home opener.

Josh Neeley had 15 points to lead Portland State (7-9, 0-3), which has lost three straight after a five-game winning streak.

The Vikings had no answer for Stuckey, who had 15 points in the first half as the Eagles built a 49-32 lead, shooting 66.7 percent.

“People know he’s going to bring it and they devise defenses to stop him,” Eagles coach Mike Burns said of Stuckey. “But he and his teammates have been able to keep finding ways and opportunities for him to get to the rim and score some baskets.”

Going into the game, he was averaging 22.7 points, tops among Division I freshmen.

Portland State coach Ken Bone said Stuckey might be the best freshman the Big Sky has ever seen.

“I really like Rodney,” Bone said. “I just wish he would have taken it easy on us.”

Stuckey’s jumper put the Eagles up 22-7 in the first half, before a 3-pointer made it 31-17.

The Eagles went up 59-40 on Stuckey’s 3-pointer in the second half.

EWU 89, Portland State 70

Eastern Washington–Penoncello 2-3 0-0 4, Williams 3-8 2-2 9, Butorac 7-8 1-2 16, Stuckey 11-15 7-8 31, Smith 5-9 1-4 12, Bekkering 1-1 0-0 2, Humphrey 2-4 0-0 5, Zumwalt 1-3 0-0 3, Bright 1-1 0-0 2, Beitinger 1-4 2-4 5, Risper 0-0 0-0 0, Totals 34-56 13-20 89.

Portland State–Kamara 3-9 0-0 6, Hollist 1-1 0-0 2, Morrison 0-0 4-7 4, Neeley 5-9 5-6 15, Schroeder 4-13 5-6 14, Sommer 0-1 0-0 0, Locke 2-4 1-1 5, Washington 5-10 4-6 14, Sconiers 3-4 2-5 8, Mara 1-2 0-0 2, Totals 24-53 21-31 70.

Halftime–Eastern Washington 49, Portland State 32. 3-point goals–Eastern Washington 8-18 (Stuckey 2-4, Beitinger 1-1, Butorac 1-1, Humphrey 1-2, Zumwalt 1-3, Smith 1-3, Williams 1-3, Penoncello 0-1), Portland State 1-11 (Schroeder 1-6, Locke 0-1, Mara 0-1, Neeley 0-1, Kamara 0-2). Fouled out–None. Rebounds–Eastern Washington 27 (Butorac 5), Portland State 35 (Washington 8). Assists- Eastern Washington 21 (Stuckey 5), Portland State 8 (Neeley 3). A–1188.