Eagles are in
Montana, which has been a nemesis to Eastern Washington on several athletic fronts more times than the Eagles care to recall, turned friendly Monday night, handing the Eagles a berth in the Big Sky Conference men’s basketball tournament.
By knocking off Northern Arizona 77-69 in Flagstaff, Ariz., the Grizzlies knocked the Lumberjacks (11-17, 4-10 Big Sky) out of tournament contention and allowed Eastern (8-19, 5-9) to secure the sixth and final berth.
“It wasn’t exactly the way we dreamed of entering the tournament, but by the same token we’re thankful for the opportunity,” coach Mike Burns said after the Eagles made their way into the conference tournament for an eighth straight year.
“We have a second chance. We have to get to work to try to capitalize on it.”
Eastern, which earned the school’s first trip to the NCAA Tournament a year ago by winning the conference tournament, opens defense of its title Saturday at 1:05 p.m. PST against third-seeded Montana (15-12, 9-5) in Missoula, Mont. The Grizzlies beat the Eagles 55-53 Thursday in Missoula.
“Both teams know each other very well at this point of the season,” Burns said.
Montana, which is working on a three-game winning streak, also beat the Eagles by 10 points earlier in the season in Cheney.
“We played two great games (against Montana) …and hopefully we’ll have another great game Saturday,” Burns added. “It’s a golden opportunity for us. Hopefully we’ll come out and take advantage of it.”
Kamarr Davis scored 18 points to lead Montana over Northern Arizona as the Grizzlies tied Montana State for second in the Big Sky. However, MSU won the tiebreaker by beating Montana twice and is seeded second.
In Saturday’s other first-round game, Weber State (12-15, 7-7), the No. 5 seed, is at No. 4 Sacramento State (12-15, 8-6). The tournament will move to Portland for the semifinals March 8 with the highest remaining seed facing MSU and the lowest remaining seed meeting regular-season champion Portland State (19-8, 11-3).
The championship game, with a berth in the NCAA Tournament on the line, is March 9.
Northern Arizona (11-17, 4-10) will miss the six-team conference tourney for the first time since the 1995-96 season.