Eagles overcome Bengals
The last time the Eastern Washington Eagles were at Reese Court they were lethargic and in the process of building a five-game losing streak.
They stopped the skid last week at Portland State by tweaking the lineup and rediscovering their energy and put it on display Thursday night at home before 1,405 fans, defeating Idaho State 80-64.
As usual, Rodney Stuckey led the Eagles (7-10, 2-2 in the Big Sky Conference) with what has become an average game for him – 23 points, six assists and five rebounds. Deuce Smith provided the early spark on offense, even though the Bengals raced to a 23-14 lead, and finished with season highs of 16 points and seven boards. He also made sure Eastern ratcheted up the defense.
But the real difference was when Jake Beitinger came off the bench to score 10 points and grab four rebounds. It was the first time in eight games he reached double figures; and it was a good boost for the Eagles because Paul Butorac was only good for a half after getting sick.
“When you’re on the bench you get to see what the lineup out there needs, if they need some energy,” said Beitinger, a 6-foot-8 sophomore. “That’s what I said to myself, ‘I better go out there and give them something.’
“It was definitely just an energy thing and slowing the game down, doing the basics, rebounding, moving the ball around, getting my teammates a better shot. I really didn’t know what my role was, I just had to find my niche.”
Butorac had seven points, eight rebounds and split 10 assists with Beitinger.
“Jake Beitinger and Paul Butorac both handled the ball well tonight,” Eagles coach Mike Burns said. “I’m proud as hell of Jake for not only playing well, but playing well under circumstances that other guys might not have played as well under.”
Despite starting the first 15 games this year, Beitinger had no problems with the change.
“The bottom line is I just wasn’t performing, I just wasn’t giving the effort we needed as a team,” he said. “Coach didn’t say anything, he just switched the lineup, trying to find a winning combination. Whatever it takes to win. If I can come off the bench and play like I did tonight, halfway decent, I’m OK with that, as long as we win, as long as we don’t go 8-20 (like last year).”
Moving Matt Penoncello into the lineup also allowed Kellen Williams to move to the power forward spot and he contributed 11 points, his first double-figure performance in six games.
Slim Millien led the Bengals with 19 points and nine rebounds, but he had to battle all night and didn’t get the help he had been getting from his teammates. Forwards Tim Henry had 11 points and Kasey Winters had 10, but the ISU backcourt was dominated by the Eagles.
It was a slow start for the Eagles, who fell behind by nine with just under 9 minutes left in the first half. But from there, the defensive intensity picked up, limiting the Bengals to nine the rest of the way, and Stuckey came alive on offense. He started an 8-0 run with just his second basket and added nine more points on a variety of shots for a 35-31 lead at the half.
From there the Eagles pulled away.
“We struggled a little bit defensively in the beginning,” Burns said. “I think a couple things helped pick up the tempo. Deuce Smith brought great offensive and defensive energy early in the game that kept us in the game. Once everyone else got going, we were able to rebound and make plays in transition. Once we got into the habit of it, we were able to create easy shots for ourselves.”
Shooting 59 percent in the second half, EWU shot 53 percent for the game and held Idaho State to 39 percent.
Weber State (6-12, 0-5) comes in Saturday night.
Eastern Washington 80, Idaho St. 64
Idaho State (7-9, 0-5) – Henry 4-15 2-2 11, Millien 6-13 7-8 19, Winters 4-7 2-2 10, Kinghorn 1-3 1-3 3, Schroeder 4-8 0-0 9, Abdul-Ahad 0-5 2-4 2, Baumgartner 1-2 0-0 2, Hardy 0-2 0-0 0, Jones 2-2 0-0 4, Stucki 2-3 0-0 4, Stevens 0-1 0-0 0, Rhodes 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 24-61 14-19 64.
Eastern Washington (7-10, 2-2) – Penoncello 1-1 0-0 2, Williams 4-6 3-4 11, Butorac 3-9 1-3 7, Stuckey 7-14 8-9 23, Smith 7-10 0-0 16, Bekkering 0-0 0-0 0, Humphrey 2-5 0-0 5, Zumwalt 1-3 0-0 3, Beitinger 5-8 0-2 10, Risper 1-2 1-2 3. Totals 31-58 13-20 80.
Halftime–Eastern Washington 35, Idaho State 31. 3-point goals–Idaho State 2-12 (Schroeder 1-3, Henry 1-6, Abdul-Ahad 0-2, Stucki 0-1), Eastern Washington 5-10 (Smith 2-2, Stuckey 1-2, Humphrey 1-2, Zumwalt 1-3, Butorac 0-1). Fouled out–None. Rebounds–Idaho State 32 (Millien 9), Eastern Washington 37 (Butorac 8). Assists–Idaho State 12 (Kinghorn, Abdul-Ahad 3), Eastern Washington 20 (Stuckey 6). Total fouls–Idaho State 17, Eastern Washington 17. A–1,405.