Colorado finds form in second half to beat Eastern Washington 76-56
From staff reports
BOULDER, Colorado – After leading by as many as 17 points in the first half, Eastern Washington faded in the second half and lost to Colorado, 76-56 at CU Events Center on Monday in both teams’ season opener.
“It’s a long year, and it’s a long game,” EWU head coach Dan Monson said in a postgame radio interview. “We’ve got a long way to go, and a 40-minute game is long. We ran out of gas a little bit.”
The Eagles got 44 points from the six returners from last season’s Big Sky champions, including a team-high 16 from junior Nic McClain. Sophomore Vice Zanki added 12 points – all on 3-pointers – and newcomer Andrew Cook, a senior transfer from Carroll College, scored seven points.
Eastern made 40% of its first-half shots but just 32.1% in the second as the Buffaloes surged ahead. They shot 56.3% after halftime, including 8-of-14 from 3-point range, and outscored the Eagles 51-25 in the second half.
Four Colorado players reached double-digits in scoring, led by freshman Sebastian Rancik with 13. Senior Andrej Jakomovski, who transferred from Washington State, added 11 points on 3-of-9 shooting.
Colorado out-rebounded Eastern 43-30 and committed just five second-half turnovers after committing 13 in the first half.
“We’ve got to be more disciplined and execute better, but I love coaching these guys,” said Monson, who is in his first year at EWU. “We’ve just got to get more confidence, and it’s a process. I’d trade a loss today to get us better, because it really is a preseason for us right now.”
Eastern returns home to host Seattle at 6 p.m. Wednesday and Reese Court in Cheney.