Gary Gibson and Mark Dunn scored 14 points apiece and Eastern Washington beat Idaho State 79-71 in the season finale for both teams on Saturday night at Cheney.
Jeffrey Forbes added 12 points and Brandon Moore had 12 rebounds for the Eagles (9-21, 5-11 Big Sky). Demetrius
Monroe scored 20 points, Chron Tatum 13 and Amorrow Morgan 10 for the Bengals (7-22, 4-12), losers of eight of nine to close the season.
Forbes keyed a 21-7 burst toward the end of the first half, hitting three 3-pointers as the Eagles broke away from a back-and-forth game to open a 42-29 lead with 44.1 seconds left.
The lead grew to 52-36 before Idaho State rallied to pull within five, 61-56, on a 3-pointer by Todd Starks. Eastern Washington answered with an 8-0 run, capped by Gibson’s layup with 5:15 left.
Neither team qualified for the conference tournament. Eastern Washington finished in 7th and the Bengals finished in 8th.
