Eagles step up, then step aside

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. – This one got away.

Never mind the 30 minutes of indifferent play, when it came time to be counted, the young Eastern Washington Eagles stood up.

It just wasn’t enough as Montana executed better in overtime to pull out a 73-71 win in the semifinals of the Big Sky Conference men’s basketball tournament at the Walkup Skydome Tuesday night.

“When you get into overtime it’s a possession by possession game,” EWU coach Mike Burns said. “They got to the line a couple of times and we came up empty a couple of times.”

Overtime seemed remote for the longest time as the Grizzlies (22-6) were leading 55-42 with less than 9 minutes to play. Then the Eagles (15-15), who had a seven-point lead 8 minutes into the game, came back to life.

“I thought our intensity level went up,” Burns said. “We made a couple of plays on offense and then we picked up the defensive intensity.”

The Eagles finally caught the Grizzlies at 59 with 1:51 to play and, with a reversal in the final 20 seconds, had a chance to win.

Montana had regained the lead and then Eastern turned the ball over with 55 seconds left. But with 22 seconds to go, Matt Penoncello stole the ball from Kevin Criswell at the foul line and fired a pass to Rodney Stuckey for a breakaway. As Stuckey went for the layup, Virgil Matthews pushed him in the back for an intentional foul.

Stuckey made the two free throws with 20.9 seconds to go and on the ensuing possession he missed a contested, spinning floater in the lane at the buzzer.

“I wanted it to (go in), but it didn’t, so …” the subdued conference MVP said.

“Rodney has the option in those situations to find a teammate,” Burns said. “He draws a lot of attention. If he isn’t going to get a good look, he’s going to get a good look for somebody else.”

Montana coach Larry Kystkowiak agreed with the call by official Eric Curry.

“I thought it was legitimate,” he said. “I look at myself for the play call (on offense that left no defender back). … Virgil will be the first one to admit he pushed him. I told my guys, ‘If he makes both free throws it comes down to us making a stop.’ “

A Stuckey basket, the last of his 26 points, and two Penoncello free throws produced two short-lived leads in overtime, but Criswell tied the game with his first basket in more than 16 minutes. Following a Matt Dlouhy block of a Stuckey shot in the lane, Andrew Strait put the Grizzlies ahead with a fastbreak layup.

Paul Butorac missed shots on EWU’s next two possessions, forcing the Eagles to foul. Criswell iced the game with four free throws, giving him 25 points.

“You’ve got to credit them for stepping up the defense and limiting us to one shot,” Criswell said. “It was a matter of staying patient, taking shots when they came and trusting my teammates.”

Unlike the previous two meetings with Montana when they led at halftime, the Eagles got themselves in trouble in the first half with poor shooting exaggerated by questionable shot selection.

The Grizzlies closed the first half with a 14-6 run for a 36-28 lead.

“Give credit to Montana, but I also think a couple of times we were a little too anxious,” Burns said.

Then it got worse in the second half. Eastern had five turnovers in less than 4 minutes and fell behind by 14.

But starting with two Jake Beitinger free throws at the 8:16 mark, the Eagles came flying back.

Stuckey followed with a drive an a shot from the left wing and Deuce Smith drove for a basket and then fed Penoncello for a basket to cap a 10-0 run to pull the Eagles within 55-52 with 5:11 to go and the game was on. Eastern also had three more possessions before Strait scored to end a drought of 5:27.

Penoncello, who had 12 points, hit a 3 to make it a two-point game. Dlouhy, a former Lake City HS player, scored on a putback before a key possession. Stuckey was fouled on a post-up basket, but he missed the free throw with 1:55 to go.

Kellen Williams tipped the ball back to Stuckey and as he went down the lane he found Butorac under the basket for the easy tying bucket.

“These guys make big plays when big plays need to be made,” Burns said of the stretch run.

Against a variety of defenses and defenders, but usually Dlouhy, Stuckey was 10 of 23 but didn’t score for the final 10:54 of the first half when his shot made it 20-14.

Montana 73, EWU 71 (OT)

Eastern Washington (15-15) – Penoncello 3-6 4-4 12, Risper 0-2 0-0 0, Butorac 4-8 1-2 10, Stuckey 10-23 4-5 26, Smith 4-5 0-1 8, Humphrey 1-1 0-1 2, Zumwalt 0-3 0-0 0, Beitinger 2-5 3-4 7, Williams 3-5 0-0 6. Totals 27-58 12-17 71.

Montana (22-6) – Hasquet 1-7 0-0 2, Dlouhy 4-8 0-0 11, Strait 7-11 0-0 14, Criswell 6-13 11-12 25, Matthews 3-12 4-4 11, Ellis 1-3 0-1 2, Martin 3-5 0-0 8, Mayes 0-2 0-0 0, Chavez 0-0 0-0 0, Sharp 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 25-62 15-17 73.

Halftime–Montana 36, Eastern Washington 28. 3-Point Goals–E. Washington 5-18 (Penoncello 2-5, Stuckey 2-7, Butorac 1-2, Smith 0-1, Zumwalt 0-3), Montana 8-22 (Dlouhy 3-6, Martin 2-3, Criswell 2-4, Matthews 1-5, Hasquet 0-1, Ellis 0-1, Mayes 0-2). Fouled Out–Matthews. Rebounds–E. Washington 36 (Williams 8), Montana 38 (Matthews, Strait 6). Assists–E. Washington 18 (Stuckey 5), Montana 18 (Ellis 7). Total Fouls–E. Washington 15, Montana 17. A–NA.

N. Arizona 98, Sacramento St. 83: Steven Sir scored 21 points and Tyrone Bazy added 20 as top-seeded Northern Arizona (21-9) defeated fifth-seeded Sacramento State (15-15) in other semifinal.