Eagles beat Titans in track meet
This time the race was a relay.
Rodney Stuckey was his usual dynamic self but Eastern Washington put five other players in double figures to race past Cal State Fullerton 110-100 before 1,979 fans at Reese Court on Monday night.
The game was the fifth-highest scoring in school history (225 is the record), and third-highest Eastern total against a Division I school.
The Eagles (3-3) shot 61 percent, which included Stuckey going 11 of 25 on his way to a 26-point outing. The rest of the team was 33 of 47 (70 percent). Stuckey made up for his misses with nine assists and five steals.
“One thing Rodney Stuckey does is draw a lot of attention from the opposing team and that creates space for the rest of the team to make plays,” Eagles coach Mike Burns said. “We ask Rodney to take a lot of shots, and there are times when we want him taking difficult shots that will open up the offensive rebounding opportunities for guys.”
Paul Butorac had 19 points and 10 rebounds, Derek Risper had a career-high 18 points, Brandon Moore had 13, Matt Penoncello 12 with seven assists, three steals and two blocks and Omar Krayem had 11 points, seven assists and six rebounds.
In all, the Eagles had 30 assists on 44 baskets.
“I think having so many guys in double figures speaks volumes of the quality of players on our team and their unselfishness,” Burns said. “We want to play fast, so when we play another team that plays fast and are able to pull out a victory under those circumstances, it is huge.”
The first half was a relay race with 11 lead changes, five ties and several runs before the Titans scored last for a 56-54 lead.
Fullerton (4-1) had the first surge with Bobby Brown scoring the last seven of a 12-0 run that pushed the Titans ahead 38-23.
The Eagles came right back with a 10-0 run, started and finished by Marcus Hinton with three Risper baskets in between. That stretched to a 24-7 roll, capped by Krayem’s three-point play that put the Eagles up 47-45.
Fullerton shot 60.6 percent, including 7 of 15 on 3-pointers, but had 10 turnovers. The Eagles shot 67.6 percent but were hurt by 12 turnovers.
“We just kind of came out flat,” Penoncello said. “I don’t know what it was, legs from that trip to Seattle, but we didn’t come out with enough energy. We were able to get it going. That’s how we want to play. It was good to get out there and get running.”
The Titans scored six quick points to start the second half, but the Eagles reeled off 12 straight, eight from Butorac, to regain the lead. From there both teams kept pace until the Eagles ran off 10 straight beginning just under the 7-minute mark.
The Titans cooled off to 43.8 percent in the second half, hitting just four of their final 14 shots.
“They are so quick and shoot so well that you have to be able to recover fast on defense and we didn’t do that in the first half,” Burns said. “But we got it done in the second half and I’m really proud of our guys for responding the way they did after playing Washington on Friday.”
Eastern ended up scoring 72 points in the paint, throwing down at least eight dunks.
“It’s easy to play hard when every time you look up those big guys are bringing that glass down,” Penoncello said. “It’s not difficult to get excited.”
“They destroyed us inside,” Fullerton coach Bobby Burton said. “They beat us off the dribble and penetration, which leads to those type of easy baskets.”
The Eagles are right back in action against visiting Eastern Oregon (7-1) on Wednesday.
EWU 110, CS Fullerton 100
Cal State Fullerton (4-1) — Cutley 8-16 2-3 19, Burns 1-5 4-6 6, Robinson 6-10 1-2 16, Brown 7-15 2-2 20, Reed 8-11 3-3 20, Alexander 1-1 0-0 2, Morgan 0-0 0-0 0, Green 2-2 0-0 4, Minardo 1-3 0-0 2, Crenshaw 3-7 3-3 11. Totals 37-70 15-19 100
Eastern Washington (3-3) — Risper 8-9 2-2 18, Butorac 7-9 4-5 19, Krayem 4-8 2-3 11, Stuckey 11-25 4-4 27, Taylor 0-0 0-0 0, Hinton 2-2 0-0 4, Penoncello 4-7 2-2 12, Williams 3-6 0-1 6, Moore 5-6 3-4 13. Totals 44-72 17-21 110.
Halftime—Cal State Fullerton 56-54. 3-Point Goals—Cal St.-Fullerton 11-26 (Brown 4-9, Robinson 3-5, Crenshaw 2-5, Reed 1-2, Cutley 1-3, Minardo 0-2), E. Washington 5-15 (Penoncello 2-2, Butorac 1-2, Krayem 1-4, Stuckey 1-6, Williams 0-1). Fouled Out—None. Rebounds—Cal St.-Fullerton 28 (Burns, Robinson 6), E. Washington 37 (Butorac 10). Assists—Cal St.-Fullerton 18 (Brown, Crenshaw 4), E. Washington 30 (Stuckey 9). Total Fouls—Cal St.-Fullerton 19, E. Washington 14. A—1,979.