Eastern Washington turns up defense to beat Big Sky leader Portland State 67-55
Two days after giving up more points than it had against any Big Sky opponent this season, the Eastern Washington men’s basketball team shut down the Portland State Vikings on Saturday, earning a 67-55 victory over the league’s No. 1 team at Viking Pavilion in Portland.
It was the fewest points and the lowest field goal percentage (31%) the Eagles have allowed in a game this season.
“We got timely stops down the stretch,” EWU associate head coach Ryan Lundgren said in a postgame radio interview. “We really locked down and got stops when we needed to.”
Portland State made just 2 of its final 10 shots and did not make a field goal over the last 3 minutes, 53 seconds.
Redshirt senior Isaiah Moses scored a game-high 22 points, including an 11-of-11 day at the free-throw line, to lead the Eagles. Grad senior Kiree Huie had 14 points while making 5 of 11 shots from the field and 4 of 4 at the line.
The Eagles made 23 of 53 shots overall, a better percentage (43%) than the Vikings’ league-leading defense had allowed during Big Sky play (40%).
Following a 102-94 victory at Sacramento State on Thursday, this was the sixth straight win for Eastern, which is now 9-6 in Big Sky play (11-17 overall) and tied with Montana State for second place in the Big Sky standings. During the winning streak, the Eagles have defeated four of the other top six teams in the league: Montana State, Montana, Weber State and now first-place Portland State (18-8, 12-3).
The Vikings led briefly twice during the second half. But with about 13 minutes left, Huie made a turnaround jumper to tie the game at 44, and on the next possession Jojo Anderson’s driving layup gave the Eagles the lead for good.
Moses scored six points in the final 70 seconds – four at the free-throw line – to keep the Vikings at bay.
“It’s so valuable when you have a point guard who is 93% from the free-throw line and you’re protecting a lead,” Lundgren said. “You can’t foul him, and he makes good decisions.”
Eastern outrebounded Portland State 42-34. Huie had seven of them, as did redshirt sophomore Emmett Marquardt. Moses had six.
Portland State senior Terri Miller Jr., the Big Sky’s fourth-leading scorer, had 21 points on 9-of-19 shooting.
The Eagles have three games left to play before the conference tournament, and all three will be played at Reese Court in Cheney. The first is on Thursday, when the Eagles will host Northern Colorado.
Women
Eastern Washington 87, Portland State 78: Their two leaders set career highs, and the Eagles (13-15, 6-9 Big Sky) had one of their best offensive games of the season, stopping a four-game slide with a win over the Vikings (6-21, 2-13) at Reese Court in Cheney.
Senior guard Ella Gallatin logged 25 points, one off her career high, and doled out a career-high 10 assists. Sophomore forward Kourtney Grossman had a career-best 24 points, plus 16 rebounds for her 17th double-double of the season – she ranks in the top five nationally in double-doubles.
EWU posted its second-highest point total against a Division I opponent, and hit its most 3-pointers (11 of 28) against a D-I foe this season. Eastern had just nine turnovers against a season-high 24 assists.
The Eagles led 41-37 at the half but extended the lead to 12 early in the third, and were up by 17 in the fourth before PSU trimmed into the deficit in the final minutes.