Wildcats hold back Eastern

OGDEN, Utah – Dezmon Harris scored 17 points and was one of four double-digit scorers for Weber State as the Wildcats defeated the Eastern Washington Eagles 74-64 on Saturday night.

First-year EWU head coach Kirk Earlywine made his first trip back to Ogden, where he spent seven seasons as an assistant coach from 1999-2006.

The Wildcats (7-8, 2-1 Big Sky Conference) shot 6 of 10 from the free-throw line in the final 2 minutes.

Milan Stanojevic hit a pair of 3-pointers as EWU (7-12, 2-3 BSC) went on an 11-0 run to cut Weber State’s lead to 48-44 with just more than 12 minutes remaining. Weber State answered with a 12-3 run during the next 4 minutes with Tyler Billings scoring six points during the stretch. Billings finished with 11 points.

Adris DeLeon led EWU with 18 points, but he shot 5 of 14 from the floor and had four turnovers.

Kellen Williams added 11 points and six rebounds for the Eagles. He has led EWU in rebounding in 18 of 19 games.

The Wildcats, defending regular-season and conference-tournament champions, jumped out to a 19-6 lead after the first 10 minutes. Harris hit a 3-pointer just before the first-half buzzer to give Weber State a 42-26 lead.

“We battled our butts off to get it from 16 down to four,” Earlywine said. “But there are so many moral victories.”

EWU was swept in its first road swing of the season.

“We certainly need a win,” Earlywine said.