Parker Kelly makes key baskets in final minute in Eastern Washington’s historic win over Indiana Hoosiers

BLOOMINGTON, Indiana – In a venue dripping with history, the Eastern Washington men’s basketball program made a little of its own history Monday night.

Overcoming the mystique of Assembly Hall, 11,636 hostile fans and double-digit Indiana leads throughout the game, the Eagles shocked the Hoosiers and the nation, 88-86.

“We just never stopped believing,” coach Jim Hayford said after one of the biggest wins in school history, against a program with five NCAA titles, 21 Big Ten titles, 44 All-Americans and 74 NBA draft picks.

Eastern does have that solitary NCAA appearance back in 2004, but on Monday it had something more important: resilience.

“We really don’t look at the scoreboard till there’s three or four minutes left because that can go up and down and we just play through runs,” Hayford said.

That, and a strong inside game, saw the Eagles (4-1) through the emotional roller-coaster of a nationally-televised game as it reached the final, pressure-packed minutes.

As the clock ticked under one minute with Eastern holding a 79-78 lead, point guard Drew Brandon looked to the top of the key and found Parker Kelly, who was still scoreless with 36 seconds left.

But Kelly drained the 3, grabbed a rebound at the other end and made two free throws to put the Eagles ahead 84-78 with 26 seconds left.

“I thought it was really fitting that Parker put the nail in the coffin with his 3,” Hayford said. “He’s such a great person and the epitome of hard work.

“He hit a big, big shot there.”

Indiana’s Kevin Ferrell needed only four seconds to cut the lead in half, but Eastern guard Tyler Harvey pushed the lead to 85-81 with a free throw with 20 seconds left.

Ferrell made two free throws with 16 seconds left, but Kelly and Brandon put the game away at the free-throw line; Eastern hit 6 of 8 free-throw shots in those last 26 seconds.

James Blackmon connected from 3 to make it 88-86 with one second left, but Indiana never got the ball back.

And as Assembly Hall fell quiet, the tiny band of Eagles embraced each other – and the moment.

“I’m just really happy for our team and anybody associated with Eastern Washington,” said Hayford, now in his fourth season in Cheney – or “Chaney,” as the ESPNU crew called it after the game.

“We’re the little engine that can, and I love that,” Hayford said. “This is a huge win, and obviously the biggest in my time at Eastern.

“I’m really, really proud of our guys,” said Hayford, whose Eagles will play host to Northern Kentucky on Wednesday.

The Eagles came into Bloomington off a 77-68 loss on Saturday at SMU, but with a reputation for 3-point shooting. The Hoosiers, who hadn’t lost at home to a non-conference opponent in 43 games, took notice and focused on guarding Harvey and Kelly.

“They didn’t want to get beat on the 3-point shot, so we knew we would have a two-on-two game going on the inside,” Hayford said.

“That required Drew to make good decisions and make baskets, and he did,” said Hayford, who got a career-high 27 points from Brandon, plus 20 points and 14 rebounds from forward Venky Jois.

Harvey still finished with 25 points, but the Eagles were only 6 of 16 from 3-point range. However, they beat the big-name school at its own game, shooting 26 of 46 from inside the arc and outrebounding the Hoosiers 37-32.

The Eagles also had a 48-38 scoring advantage in the paint, a 20-16 edge on second-chance points, shot 61.3 percent from the field in the second half and simply refused to let the Hoosiers pull away.

Indeed, the Eagles had plenty of chances to fold, but never did:

• Less than 3 minutes in, James Blackmon hit a 3-pointer to give the Hoosiers a 14-2 lead, but Brandon responded with a steal, two lay-ins and a pair of free throws to get the Eagles back to 14-8.

• Indiana closed out the half with a 14-7 run to lead 41-35 at intermission, but Brandon hit two more layups to offset Ferrell’s jumper to narrow the lead to 43-39.

• The Hoosiers appeared to take control of the game with a layup by Ferrell that made it 54-42 with 15:11 to play, but Brandon fed Harvey for back-to-back 3-pointers that made it a 6-point game.

• Troy Williams’ slam-dunk and free throw put Indiana up 78-75 and brought the crowd to its feet with 2:12 left, but Brandon responded yet again, hitting a layup, then another after rebounding his own missed 3-pointer.

That gave the Eagles the lead for good, 79-78 with 1:06 to play, setting up Kelly’s big 3-point shot.

“It was great to be on this team,” Brandon said after the postgame celebration. “I love my team and it just, it felt great to come in here and we deserve it. We work hard every day and it just felt great to finish with a win.”