Eagles breeze past Division II Crusaders
Coach Mike Burns liked what he saw of his Eastern Washington University men’s basketball team Saturday at Reese Court.
Northwest Nazarene College, on the other hand, will try to forget this one.
EWU took the court for the first time this season and posted a 98-55 exhibition win over the Division II Crusaders. Division I Eastern used its quickness and athleticism to frustrate NNC, jump to an early lead, then roll to the win.
“I thought at times the effort was very good,” said Burns. “That’s what we’ve been talking about all preseason, is just putting together a consistent effort for 40 minutes. I think we fell a little shy of that, but at times it was very, very good.”
Senior forward Derek Risper led the way for the Eagles. The 6-foot-8 senior from Moreno Valley, Calif., had team highs of 22 points and eight rebounds. He also had a couple of the half-dozen or so dunks that energized a crowd of 1,882.
“I just wanted to come out and be a leader,” said Risper. “I just wanted us to get better as a team today and I think we did that. Now we’ve just got to keep practicing hard this next week, get better every day, and get better for Gonzaga.”
Though the game doesn’t count on EWU’s record, it was the first time in 28 games that sophomore Rodney Stuckey did not lead the Eagles in scoring. Stuckey had 18 points, most early in the second half, as Eastern extended a 28-point halftime lead to 45 points on his layup with 9:39 left in the game.
“Overall, it was a good game,” said Stuckey. “It was good not to be beating up on each other – playing against another team. There are some things we need to work on this week in practice.”
The Eagles trailed briefly in the game, twice by a point in the first three minutes before a Risper layup gave them a 9-8 lead they would never give up. EWU had a 21-0 run midway through the first half in which the Eagles extended an 18-12 lead to 39-12 over a stretch of 6 minutes and 47 seconds.
Eastern played aggressive defense throughout the game and forced 24 turnovers from NNC.
EWU had five players score in double figures: Risper, Stuckey, Brandon Moore (12), Kellen Williams (11, seven rebounds) and Matt Penoncello (10).
The game was a forgettable homecoming for Ferris product Marcus Clift. The senior transfer guard had just two points on 1-for-14 shooting and went 0 of 6 from the free-throw line. He finished with four fouls and five rebounds in 25 minutes.
EWU 98, NW Nazarene 55
Northwest Nazarene—Ireland 5-11 0-0 10, Swartz 0-1 0-0 0, Fisher 3-3 0-0 6, Parnell 1-8 0-0 2, Simmons 5-5 0-0 10, Clift 1-14 0-0 2, Gielow 5-9 0-0 10, L.Beech 3-11 3-4 11, Z.Beech 0-0 0-0 0, Sakvarelidze 2-5 0-0 4. Totals 25-67 3-4 55.
Eastern Washington—Risper 8-9 6-7 22, Butorac 2-6 2-4 7, Stuckey 7-13 1-1 18, Penoncello 4-7 2-3 10, Taylor 0-4 0-0 0, Hinton 1-3 4-4 6, Krayem 2-3 2-2 7, Humphrey 1-2 0-0 3, Williams 5-7 0-011, Sprinker 1-2 0-0 2, Moore 4-4 4-6 12. Totals 35-60 21-27 98.
Halftime—Eastern Washington 50, Northwest Nazarene 22. 3-point goals—Northwest Nazarene 2-18 (L.Beech 2-5, Parnell 0-1, Gielow 0-1, Sakvarelidze 0-2, Ireland 0-3, Clift 0-6), Eastern Washington 7-18 (Stuckey 3-8, Krayem 1-1, Humphrey 1-1, Butorac 1-2, Williams 1-2, Penoncello 0-2, Taylor 0-2). Fouled out—Gielow. Rebounds—Northwest Nazarene 31 (Clift, Gielow, Sakvarelidze 5), Eastern Washington 39 (Risper 8). Assists—Northwest Nazarene 12 (Ireland 4), Eastern Washington 19 (Stuckey, Hinton, Krayem 4). Total fouls—Northwest Nazarene 23, Eastern Washington 12. A—1,882.