Eastern Washington men show little rust after long break in win at Air Force 73-68

From staff reports

USAF ACADEMY, Colo. – After a 10-day layoff, Eastern Washington picked up its first Division I victory of the men’s basketball season on Saturday with a 73-68 road win over Air Force at Clune Arena.

Senior Jake Kyman scored a season-high 25 points for the second straight game to lead the Eagles, who made 52.2% of their shots from the field. Kyman was 6 of 10 from the field, including 4 of 6 3-pointers, and made 9 of 10 shots at the free-throw line.

Eastern led 41-26 at half but surrendered the lead to the Falcons (57-56) with 5:31 left in the second half. But the Eagles answered with a 7-0 run, capped by a Casey Jones 3-pointer, and the Falcons never led again.

In a postgame radio interview, EWU head coach David Riley said coming in the Eagles emphasized the importance of being the tougher and more physical team; Riley said they were.

“I think everyone on our team knew how big this game was,” Riley said.

All nine Eagles players scored. Redshirt freshman LeJuan Watts had 13 points, junior Dane Erikstrup had 9 and Jones finished with 8. The Eagles committed a season-high 20 turnovers, which the Falcons turned into 31 points.

Ethan Taylor led the Falcons (7-3) with 22 points.

The Eagles (2-6), who shot a season-high 56% (10 of 18) from 3-point range, played their seventh Division I road game of the season. The fewest points they allowed in the previous six was 75 against Mississippi. They play at home Wednesday against Portland Bible College.