Eastern Washington men recover from slow start for 90-77 win over Portland State

From staff reports

PORTLAND – After a slow start, Eastern Washington beat Portland State 90-77 at Viking Pavilion on Monday for its second victory over the Vikings this season.

Eastern won for the second time during a stretch of three road games in five days, extending its lead in the Big Sky men’s basketball standings to two and a half games over second-place Northern Colorado (13-9, 6-3 Big Sky).

The Eagles (15-8, 9-1) trailed by nine points early but found their shooting touch from 3-point range, finishing 13-of-30 from the arc. An Ethan Price dunk and free throw with 7:19 left gave Eastern a 25-point lead, its largest of the game, before Portland State (14-9, 5-5) trimmed its deficit to half that down the stretch.

“We’ve got to be a little less sloppy at the end, but it’s a heck of an effort for these guys,” EWU head coach David Riley said in a postgame radio interview.

EWU junior Cedric Coward scored a career-high 26 points, including a 10-for-11 night at the free-throw line. He had 11 rebounds for his fifth double-double this season and second in as many games. Junior Casey Jones also had a double-double – his first this season – with 11 rebounds and 12 points.

The Eagles committed a season-high 22 turnovers, but they also outrebounded the Vikings 53-30.

“Our guys knew that was the game,” Riley said of rebounding. “We talked about how critical that is against Portland State.”

For the second game in a row the Eagles made 27 free throws, this time missing just four. Junior Dane Erikstrup was 7 of 8 at the free throw line and finished with 10 points off the bench.

Senior Jake Kyman made 4 of 9 3-point attempts and had 14 points, and junior Ethan Price had 15 points on 6-of-11 shooting.

Eastern hosts Idaho at 4:30 p.m. Saturday at Reese Court in the second half of a women’s and men’s basketball doubleheader in Cheney.