Eagles improve their game, but not record

It became obvious early on that Eastern Washington’s men’s basketball team had shored up several suspect areas of its game in the 10 days since it last faced the University of Montana.

Rebounding and post defense were the first of those areas to come to mind.

But in end, Montana found just enough offense to turn back the rejuvenated Eagles 59-57 in front of a small and subdued crowd of 1,231 that found its way to Reese Court on Sunday afternoon at the expense of missing Fox’s pregame coverage of Super Bowl XLII.

The Grizzlies (10-12 overall, 4-5 Big Sky), despite missing the front end of two one-and-one free-throw opportunities in the final 15 seconds, were still able to smother EWU (8-16, 3-7) on its final possession and dig out a key win that greatly enhanced their chances of qualifying for the Big Sky tournament’s six-team field.

Eastern, on the other hand, saw its postseason inspirations take yet another kick to the stomach as it suffered its fourth consecutive loss – one of which was an 80-61 setback to the Griz in Missoula on Jan. 24.

The Eagles were outrebounded 36-15 in that previous meeting, but managed to hang with Montana and its massive front line throughout Sunday’s rematch, coming within a single rebound of matching the Grizzlies’ total of 31. In addition, they held UM’s 6-foot-8 senior forward Andrew Strait, who scored 20 points on 8-for-8 shooting in their first meeting, to a mere five points on just three field-goal attempts.

Senior Kellen Williams paced Eastern’s spirited effort with a game-high 21 points. But the Eagles also got a huge lift from sophomore center Brandon Moore, who finished with a 14-point, 13-rebound double-double and did a splendid job of helping defend Straight and his low-post teammates Jordan Hasquet and Brian Qvale.

Hasquet, a 6-9 junior, finished with 15 points and eight rebounds, but Qvale, a 6-11 freshman, managed only four points and five boards.

“Obviously we got outrebounded by 19 at their place and we got outrebounded by Montana State (in a 64-57 home loss) 72 hours ago by 15,” Eastern coach Kirk Earlywine said. “There was no magic wand. I didn’t come up with a miracle rebounding drill in practice on Friday or Saturday.

“We just had to recommit ourselves to rebounding the basketball, and we did a good job of that. That, and our limited turnovers, gave us a chance to win.”

Still, a dramatic lack of production from its backcourt, which accounted for only 15 points, was too much for Eastern to overcome.

The Eagles, who committed just five turnovers, were trailing 59-53 with 23 seconds left in the game, but were able to slice into UM’s lead when the Grizzlies’ Ceylon Elgin-Taylor misfired on the first of a one-and-one free-throw chance with 14.8 seconds remaining.

After the miss, Eastern’s Gary Gibbs took the outlet pass and dribbled the length of the court to score on a baseline runner.

Unfortunately, the sophomore guard, who finished with seven points and six rebounds, was forced to commit his fifth foul on Montana’s ensuing inbound pass. The foul put UM’s Matt Martin on the line, and he followed Elgin-Taylor’s lead by missing his first bonus-situation free throw with 5.9 seconds remaining.

Moore nabbed the rebound and got the ball to teammate Adris DeLeon, who had missed the Montana game and two days of practice with the flu. The junior guard, who had not scored in the 17 minutes he had played, dribbled to the top of the key looking to attack the basket, but momentarily lost control of the ball and was not able to get off a shot before the final buzzer sounded.

“You always wish you had more time on the game clock,” Moore said of DeLeon’s failure to get the ball up. “It makes your heart sink, knowing you could have had a chance but you waited too long.”

The Eagles, who fell into a seventh-place tie with Northern Colorado, play Sacramento State on Thursday.