Eastern Washington runs win streak to eight after blitzing Northern Arizona 88-57

Coming out of halftime on Saturday, Northern Arizona opened on a 5-1 run to cut the Eastern Washington men’s basketball team’s lead to 16 points.

It was a modest run, certainly so compared to the 19-0 spurt Eastern had used in the first half to build a comfortable lead. But it still posed an existential threat to the red-hot Eagles, enough to prompt Dan Monson to call timeout.

“If we have any 5-minute period in Boise like we had to start the second half, our season will be over, and we have to understand we’ve got to play for 40 minutes, not 35,” Monson said he warned the Eagles during the timeout. “We had 35 really good minutes today, but that’s not going to be enough (in Boise).”

But it was plenty on Saturday at Reese Court in Cheney, where the Eagles defeated the Lumberjacks, 88-57, for their eighth consecutive victory.

It allowed the Eagles (13-17, 11-6) to keep pace with Montana State (16-13, 11-6) in the Big Sky standings. The Eagles and Bobcats are tied for second place behind Portland State (18-10, 12-5), which lost its third game in a row on Saturday, 74-68 to Montana (16-14, 10-7).

All 10 Big Sky teams will close out their regular-season schedules on Monday, and it is possible for the Eagles, Bobcats or Vikings to still claim at least a shared conference title. Eastern will host Idaho (16-14, 8-9) at 6 p.m. Monday at Reese Court. NAU (10-20, 4-13) sits alone in last place.

“We’re going to have our top guys fresh and ready to go,” EWU grad senior Johnny Radford said following his 10-point performance. “We’re ready to start playing some championship basketball.”

Radford was part of a 35-point afternoon for the Eagles’ bench players, who saw more minutes than usual: The Eagles recovered after the Lumberjacks’ brief run to start the second half and never let their lead fall under 15 points, allowing their starters to rest most of the final 10 minutes. Redshirt senior guard Isaiah Moses played a season-low 25 minutes and scored 10 points; grad senior Kiree Huie scored six points in 21 minutes.

Redshirt sophomore Emmett Marquardt had 11 points off the bench, grad senior Straton Rogers added seven and senior Maddox Monson scored the game’s final basket for his first points since Nov. 23.

“Maddox has been grinding as long as we have,” Radford said. “I think that’s just a testament to him staying ready.”

Much of Eastern’s offense came from junior post Alton Hamilton IV, who scored 23 points, made 10 of 11 shots – all but his last – and grabbed a team-high seven rebounds. Eastern, which shot a season-high 64.3% from the field, outrebounded NAU 34-20.

Eastern has secured a top-five seed in next week’s Big Sky Tournament in Boise, meaning they will open with a quarterfinals matchup on either March 8 or 9.

Women

Eastern Washington 81, Northern Arizona 61: The Eagles made a season-high 14 3-pointers and ensured a berth in the quarterfinals of next week’s Big Sky Tournament with a victory Saturday at Reese Court in Cheney.

Freshman Elyn Bowers made 8 of 16 shots – including 4 of 9 3s – and scored a game-high 21 points to lead the Eagles (14-16, 7-10 Big Sky), who earned a season sweep over the Lumberjacks (10-20, 6-11).

“We’re always really unselfish,” EWU head coach Joddie Gleason said, “and so when they went to that zone, we moved the ball, we got inside looks, and we got some outside looks and knocked them down.”

Sophomore Kourtney Grossman, the Big Sky’s leading rebounder, scored 17 points and grabbed 12 rebounds to record her 19th double-double of the season.

After the game, the Eagles honored five seniors playing their final home game: Ella Gallatin, Paris Kirk, Bella Hays, Addison Hall and Camille Jentzsch.

“It flew by,” said Gallatin, who scored 14 points and had seven assists. “I am so grateful for these past four years, and I am really grateful that my last (home) game could be with this team.”

If the Eagles defeat the Idaho Vandals in Moscow on Monday and Sacramento State loses at Idaho State, Eastern would be the No. 5 seed in the Big Sky Tournament. Otherwise, it will be the No. 6 seed.