Vikings deal Eagles tough loss
There’s no such thing as a perfect game, so sometimes the best way to win is to limit the damage in one area.
Eastern Washington failed on two accounts in its biggest game of the year.
The Eagles allowed Portland State to turn 16 offensive rebounds into 22 points and 18 EWU turnovers into another 21, which translated into a 92-86 basketball win for the Vikings before 2,642 fans at Reese Court Saturday night.
“We just gave up too many easy baskets,” said Eastern star Rodney Stuckey, who scored a season-high 36 points, the third-highest total of his career. “Offensive rebounds killed us. They were just grabbing rebounds over us. That cost the game for us.”
The game broke the tie for the sixth and final spot in the Big Sky tournament with both teams having two home games left after an in-season break for a non-conference Bracket Buster road game next weekend.
“We have to win our next two home games,” Eagles coach Mike Burns said. “If we do that – and God willing – we will find a way into the Big Sky tournament. There are a lot of things that can happen and this league has proven that any team in the Big Sky can beat any other team on any given night.”
PSU (16-11, 7-7 Big Sky) built a 13-point lead midway through the second half and then hung on as the Eagles (12-14, 6-8) battled back. A 3-pointer by Omar Krayem with 21 seconds left made it a three-point game, but three Viking free throws and a couple of long-range Eagles misses closed it out.
PSU did not score a basket after Ryan Sommer’s jumper from the foul line made it 76-65 with 3:47 to go. The Vikings made 16 of 24 free throws in the final 2:45, just enough to keep the Eagles from coming all the way back.
“You have to give Portland State the credit tonight,” Burns said. “They came out and really worked hard on the glass. I thought our defensive energy was pretty good at times. We would get a stop, but they would get the offensive rebound and that was the key to the game.”
PSU threw a curve at the Eagles by inserting 6-foot-9, 250-pound senior Anthony Washington into the lineup alongside 6-11 Scott Morrison.
“Our backs were against the wall,” PSU coach Ken Bone said. “We needed a win and I didn’t like the way things went the last few days. We needed to make a change. Anthony Washington can be a force, but I didn’t think Scott Morrison deserved to come off the bench. I thought Deonte Huff could handle it better.”
Washington responded with 14 points and 11 rebounds, Morris had 10 points and three boards.
“I was a little surprised they came out with two big guys,” Burns said. “We were trapping the post and it actually made it a little easier to do that.”
The bigger surprise was Huff, a 6-4 guard. The junior college transfer had a season-high 23 points and eight rebounds, five offensive. In his first appearance in the first half he scored eight straight points as the Vikings built an 11-point lead.
In all, the Vikings, who hit 26 of 43 free throws and shot 54 percent (32 of 59) had five players in double figures.
Eastern’s 6-10 senior Paul Butorac, who was completely stymied trying to attack the big Vikings early, came back to get the Eagles back in the game.
Butorac scored 10 of his 18 points down the stretch of the first half to pull the Eagles within 37-33. Matt Penoncello added 12 points, all in the second half.
Stuckey had his 14th career 30-point game, eighth this season and second in a row. He also had eight rebounds, five assists and four steals.
Portland St. 92, EWU 86
Portland State (16-11, 7-7)—Kamara 2-6 0-0 6, Washington 6-8 2-4 14, Morrison 2-5 6-8 10, Sommer 2-5 0-2 4, Lucas 2-5 8-12 12, Thomas 4-6 0-1 8, Huff 9-12 5-8 23, Hafford 1-5 0-0 2, Coston 1-2 0-0 2, Jenkins 3-5 5-8 11. Totals 32-59 26-43 92.
Eastern Washington (12-14, 6-8)—Williams 3-7 0-0 7, Butorac 7-12 4-6 18, Hinton 1-5 0-0 2, Stuckey 14-22 7-8 36, Taylor 2-3 0-0 6, Krayem 1-5 0-0 3, Penoncello 3-9 4-5 12, Humphrey 0-0 0-0 0, Zumwalt 0-0 0-0 0, Risper 1-1 0-0 2, Moore 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 32-65 15-19 86.
Halftime—Portland State 37, Eastern Washington 33. 3-point goals—Portland State 2-14 (Kamara 2-4, Lucas 0-1, Coston 0-1, Huff 0-1, Sommer 0-3, Hafford 0-4), Eastern Washington 7-21 (Taylor 2-3, Penoncello 2-6, Williams 1-3, Stuckey 1-4, Krayem 1-4, Butorac 0-1). Fouled out—None. Rebounds—Portland State 38 (Washington 11), Eastern Washington 35 (Williams 10). Assists—Portland State 13 (Hafford 4), Eastern Washington 18 (Stuckey 5). Total fouls—Portland State 19, Eastern Washington 27. A—2,642.