EWU races past Southern Utah 106-80 at Reese Court

So much for Eastern Washington running on fumes.

The Eagles drove full-throttle Thursday night, leaving Southern Utah in the dust on the way to a 106-80 Big Sky Conference win at Reese Court.

In just their second home game in eight weeks, the Eagles shook the Thunderbirds inside-out, with forward Venky Jois imposing his will inside in the first half and guard Austin McBroom taking over in the second.

The Eagles were taking what Southern Utah gave them – which was just about everything: Eastern shot 61 percent from the field and the same from 3-point range.

Along the way, the Eagles and their fans enjoyed enough signature moments to cover a basketball, from a trio of slams from Jois, an improbable 28-foot 3-pointer from McBroom and clutch plays from newcomer Julian Harrell.

Feeling as rejuvenated as his players, EWU coach Jim Hayford said, “You kind of wish we could have had a few more of these (home) games in December.”

“I keep telling everybody this team is going to come together, and obviously we’ve taken another good step forward,” Hayford said.

It certainly did on Thursday, as Eastern improved to 8-8 overall and 2-2 in the Big Sky Conference following its most complete game of the season. After a quiet game last week against Idaho in which he took just four shots, Jois was unleashed against Southern Utah.

Jois had his way early and often against the T-Birds’ 6-foot-8 Casey Oliverson, who seemed a step slow in the paint. Midway through the first half, Jois was outscoring Southern Utah by himself, 15 to 13.

“I thought we set the one of the game early by going inside to Venky,” Hayford said. “We knew they only had experienced post player and we wanted to go at him.”

The tone was set: Jois was en route to a 24-point, 12-rebound night and Oliverson was on his way to fouling out.

The T-Birds (3-11 overall, 1-3 Big Sky) stayed within 10 points late in the first half, mostly because EWU missed eight of its first 14 free throws.

Separation came late in the first half, as Sir Washington came off the bench with a nice floater and a foul for a three-point play that pushed the lead to 44-25. At the other end of the floor, the Eagles were holding Southern Utah to 8-for-27 shooting in the second half.

The margin was the same, 49-30, at halftime, but Eastern hit the gas even harder as the crowd of 1,572 was settling back into their seats. In only his third game as an Eagle, Harrell opened the half with a layup, hit a jumper two minutes later, and drilled a 3-pointer to push the lead to 62-38 with four minutes gone in the second half.

“It’s definitely a relief to be back on the court,” said Harrell, who missed much of the season after hand surgery. “Now we’re growing as a team, getting in a flow and we’re starting to move forward.”

With the high-low game between Jois and Harrell firmly impressed established, McBroom took advantage on his way to a 25-point night. With back-to-back 3s – the second from 28 feet– he gave the Eagles a 68-40 advantage that eventually hit 30.

That offered another bonus: Hayford was able to give some quality minutes to his bench players, who responded with 20 points.

“This is what you want – light minutes on your players on Thursday so they’re good for Saturday. We’ll take it,” said Hayford, whose team hosts Northern Arizona (3-12, 1-3) at noon Saturday.