Valentine scores 33 as Eastern beats Sac. St.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Junior Benny Valentine and seniors Adris DeLeon and Milan Stanojevic combined for 62 points Sunday as the Eastern Washington Eagles improved to 2-1 in the Big Sky Conference with an 87-74 victory over Sacramento State at the Hornets Nest.

“It was a complete team effort, and it had to be because of our foul trouble,” said Eastern coach Kirk Earlywine, whose team was whistled for 32 fouls. Six of Eastern’s 10 players finished with four fouls, but none fouled out.

The victory was Eastern’s first over a NCAA Division I foe in nearly a month as EWU improved its overall record to 8-7 with just its second victory in the past seven outings. The Hornets fell to 1-14 overall and 0-2 in the conference.

“When the other team shoots 42 free throws you probably fouled too much,” Earlywine said with a chuckle.

Sacramento State attempted 41 field goals.

Valentine scored 33 points off the bench, DeLeon had 17 points and Stanojevic added 12 more for the Eagles (8-7, 2-1 Big Sky), who made 9 of 20 3-pointers. Valentine had four 3-pointers, four assists and three steals.

Loren Leath’s 26 points led the Hornets (1-14, 0-2 Big Sky), who lost their ninth straight game.

DeLeon scored his 13th point to give the Eagles their biggest lead at 42-27 with 2:10 left to play in the first half. Valentine’s 16 points led the Eagles to a 46-34 halftime lead.

The Hornets cut the lead to 10 points early in the second half, but the Eagles came back to build an 18-point lead.