Hope remains
Eastern wins to stay in playoff chase
Given the chance to make next week matter, Eastern Washington University did.
Led by Benny Valentine’s game-high 18 points – 12 of which came in the last 71/2 minutes of the game – the Eagles overcame some horrible first-half shooting on Saturday night to dump Big Sky Conference men’s basketball rival Northern Colorado 60-59 in front of a Reese Court crowd of 1,890.
By virtue of its victory, Eastern (12-15, 6-9 Big Sky) kept alive its slim hopes of qualifying for the six-team league tournament and potentially placed a heap of importance on Saturday’s regular-season and home finale against Portland State.
Much must still play out for the Eagles before then, including a Tuesday night non-conference game at home against Seattle University. But they certainly took care of what they could control against the Bears (12-17, 6-8).
“It’s a really good feeling to have finally grinded one out,” said Valentine, the Eagles’ junior point guard, who made 8 of 11 field-goal attempts and finished as the game’s top scorer despite scoring only four points in the first half. “Tonight, I felt like we just dug deep and played with a lot of purpose and passion.
“If we don’t win, it’s season over, so it really feels good to still have something to play for.”
Nothing came easy in this one for the Eagles, who shot a paltry 33.3 percent in the opening period before hitting 16 of 24 second-half field goals. They also managed to shore up some major rebounding deficiencies during intermission and survive a late-game charge by the Bears, who clawed their way back from a 10-point deficit in the middle of the second half to tie the game at 54 with a just more than 2 minutes remaining.
The Bears had a chance to take the lead with 18 second left and Eastern nursing a 58-57 lead, but John Pena was called for a charge against Matt Brunell, and Valentine iced the game 10 seconds later with a pair of clutch free throws.
The call on Pena irked UNC coach Tad Boyle. The game ended with Boyle charging wildly after the official who blew the whistle as he walked off the court.
Still, it was a win the Eagles earned, and one that second-year coach Kirk Earlywine will probably treasure for some time.
“They are a really hard team for us to guard,” Earlywine said of the Bears, who were paced by Will Figures’ 14 points. “Last year we had to score 90 points to beat them.”
Eastern, which also got 16 points from senior shooting guard Adris DeLeon, battled UNC to a draw on the boards in the second half, after being outrebounded 22-12 in the opening 20 minutes.
“In the first half, we missed 20 shots and did not have an offensive rebound,” Earlywine said. “Mark Dunn, Brandon Moore and Matt Brunell combined for 28 minutes and did not have an offensive or defensive rebounds between the three of them.
“That was very disappointing to me, and I was sure to point that out at halftime.”
EWU 60, N. Colorado 59
N. Colorado (12-17, 6-8)—Beitzel 3-7 0-0 7, Montgomery 0-4 3-4 3, Proctor 2-5 1-2 5, Figures 5-8 2-2 14, Pena 5-10 0-0 12, Kaba 0-1 0-0 0, Palacios 2-3 1-1 5, Bonner 0-2 0-2 0, Banks 3-4 5-7 11, Kingman 1-3 0-0 2. Totals 21-47 12-18 59.
E. Washington (12-15, 6-9)—Genao 2-9 0-0 4, Dunn 2-3 0-0 4, Moore 4-7 1-1 9, Valentine 8-11 2-2 18, DeLeon 6-10 2-3 16, Christensen 0-1 0-0 0, Gibson 1-4 0-0 2, Stanojevic 1-5 0-0 3, Brunell 2-4 0-0 4. Totals 26-54 5-6 60.
Halftime—Tied 22-22. 3-Point Goals—N. Colorado 5-14 (Figures 2-2, Pena 2-4, Beitzel 1-4, Banks 0-1, Kingman 0-1, Bonner 0-2), E. Washington 3-11 (DeLeon 2-4, Stanojevic 1-4, Valentine 0-1, Gibson 0-1, Christensen 0-1). Fouled Out—Moore. Rebounds—N. Colorado 34 (Proctor 9), E. Washington 24 (Genao 6). Assists—N. Colorado 9 (Beitzel 3), E. Washington 13 (DeLeon 5). Total Fouls—N. Colorado 16, E. Washington 16. A—1,890.