Eastern Washington can’t complete comeback in 90-84 loss to Weber State

When Ethan Price made a pair of free throws to tie the game with just less than 4 minutes left on Saturday at Reese Court, it temporarily canceled out all the Eagles’ defensive woes that had put them in such a deep hole in the first place.

But following the 90-84 loss to Weber State, those struggles were all too apparent to the Eagles.

“When you’re in the game and it comes down to that point and it’s tied, you have to forget everything and just play,” said senior guard Jake Kyman, who led Eastern with 19 points and made 5 of 7 3-pointers. “But at the end of the day, all the early stuff still stays with you, and we’ve got to fix those things.

“We shouldn’t have been in that position.”

Weber State junior Dillon Jones had his best game against the Eagles, scoring 30 points, assisting on eight baskets and grabbing eight rebounds. He played all but 55 seconds, and he scored four points down the stretch as the Wildcats finished on a 12-6 run after the 78-all tie.

But he wasn’t alone. Senior Steven Verplancken added 18 points, including 4 of 7 3-pointers, and junior Blaise Threatt made 4 of 5 shots – plus 5 of 6 free throws – to score 15 points.

“They have a lot of good players top to bottom,” Kyman said.

It was a sour end for the Eagles, who led early but trailed by 11 at halftime and by as many as 17 points midway through the second half. They started the second half making 8 of 9 shots, but over the same span the Wildcats made 9 of 13.

Still, down 77-67 with 7 minutes to go, Eastern’s comeback efforts finally flowered. It started with a four-point play by Cedric Coward, who was fouled shooting a 3. He finished with 13 points and made 5 of 7 shots, while also grabbing a team-high seven rebounds.

Then Kyman drained a 3 from the wing on a skip pass from Price, making it 77-74.

On Eastern’s next possession, freshman Sebastian Hartmann missed a desperate corner 3 as the shot clock expired. Redshirt freshman LeJuan Watts grabbed the rebound and fired the ball back to Hartmann, who slashed to the basket for a thundering dunk. That sent the announced crowd of 1,786 into a tizzy.

Soon after, Price made his free throws to tie the game.

EWU head coach David Riley said he was “51-49” on whether to call a timeout after those free throws. He chose not to.

“I’ve seen teams keep that run going, keep that momentum going, and I’ve seen teams do exactly what we did tonight,” Riley said. “We either lost our focus, or they brought their focus. There’s two parts to that.”

The loss was notable for the Eagles, who had won all nine of their previous home games this year and 25 of their past 26.

But it also wasn’t crushing. At 17-9 overall and 11-2 in conference play with five games left, they still lead the Big Sky by two games over Northern Colorado (16-10, 9-4). Weber State is third (18-9, 9-5).

The Eagles also did a lot right on offense in the second half, when they made 61.5% of their shots after making just 35.7% in the first half.

Watts, too, had 15 points – one shy of his season high – while making 6 of 11 shots from the field and grabbing six rebounds. He also had three steals and two blocks.

Still, the loss laid bare some of Eastern’s nagging issues, namely on defense. They have allowed an average of 82 points over their past four games.

Two of those opponents – Idaho State (53.8%) on Thursday, Weber State (54.1%) on Saturday – made more than half their shots.

Weber State also made 13 of 24 3-pointers, more than any EWU opponent this season.

“I think we need to look in the mirror a little bit and refocus ourselves on our defensive identity,” Riley said. “I think when teams talk about us, they talk about how physical we are, they talk about how big we are, and I think they’re referring to the offensive end.

“I want teams to feel us a little more defensively. The last three games we’ve gotten away from being tough dudes. We gotta find that again.”

Women

Eastern Washington 74, Weber State 54: Guard Jamie Loera totaled 21 points and eight assists as the Eagles (21-5, 11-2 Big Sky) rolled to their fifth consecutive win, routing the Wildcats (7-20, 4-10) at the Dee Events Center in Ogden, Utah.

Loera, a grad student from Moses Lake, shot 7 of 12 from the field to pace an efficient Eagles offense, which shot 48.1% from the floor and went 9 of 21 (42.9%) from 3-point range.

The Eagles held Weber State to four points in the second quarter. EWU led by 19 points at halftime and cruised, keeping it tied atop the Big Sky standings with Northern Arizona.

Guards Jaleesa Lawrence and Aaliyah Alexander scored 17 and 15 points, respectively, for the Eagles.

Forward Daryn Hickok had 14 points for Weber State, which shot 39.6% from the field and committed 21 turnovers.

The Big Sky’s top two teams meet at 6 p.m. Thursday when EWU hosts NAU.