Eagles win despite lost focus
All that needs to be said about Eastern Washington’s 90-81 win over Eastern Oregon at Reese Court Wednesday night was that Eagles star Rodney Stuckey, who departed early with the lead at 18, had to re-enter the game with 1 minute, 27 seconds left.
“I’m happy that we won,” EWU coach Mike Burns said. “We have to tip our hats to coach (Ryan) Looney and his team for playing like a team that deserved to be in that game. And they were until the end. Eastern Oregon is a good basketball team and they proved that with their hard play tonight.”
But?
“I don’t want to make statements about our effort, or lack thereof, that disrespect Eastern Oregon and the performance they put forth tonight,” Burns added.
The Eagles (4-3), who managed a 41-37 halftime lead, used their only period of sustained effort to push that to 21 just past the midpoint of the second half. But once Stuckey departed, so did what little intensity the Eagles had mustered.
NAIA Division II Eastern Oregon (8-1, this was an exhibition game for the Mountaineers) had a 13-2 run to cut the deficit to 84-78 with 1:55 to go.
In that span the Eagles missed two shots and had seven turnovers, including five straight. They never made a field goal in the final 6:48. Stuckey had four free throws in the final minute to give him 30 points, the ninth time in his 37-game career he hit 30, plus seven assists, six steals and five rebounds.
“Every single game we played this year, regardless of who it’s been against, our guys have been able, if not for the whole game at least for stretches in the game, to find some toughness and give us a chance at the end of the game,” said Looney, a Central Valley and Eastern Oregon graduate.
“I don’t know that we necessarily had a chance down the stretch to win it, but at the same time our guys found some toughness there the last 5 minutes and were able to cut it back to six.”
The Mountaineers battled across the board, despite being outscored by 13 at the foul line, with four players in double figures.
Tanner McIntosh, a 6-foot-8 sophomore wing, had 21 points and eight rebounds. Derek Brown, a 6-8 senior center from Mt. Spokane High, had 20 points and Jeremy Templeton, a 5-10 sophomore point guard from Ferris High, had 12 points and five assists.
“We are capable of going into the 13th-ranked team in the nation’s home court (at the University of Washington) and playing them to a stalemate for 40 minutes,” he said. “And then we beat a 4-0 Fullerton team on Monday that will probably win the Big West. When we play with focus we can be really good, but when we lose that focus we’re not very good.”
Eastern 90, EOU 81
Eastern Oregon (7-2)- McIntosh 7-14 4-4 21, P.Carollo 5-10 1-2 11, Brown 7-9 6-8 20, Templeton 4-9 1-2 12, M.Carollo 4-13 0-0 9, Cropper 1-3 0-0 3, Finley 0-1 0-0 0, Blanchard 0-0 0-0 0, Landsverk 0-0 2-2 2, Fryer 1-2 0-0 3. Totals 29-61 14-18 81.
Eastern Washington (4-3)- Risper 6-12 4-6 16, Butorac 4-8 2-4 10, Krayem 4-9 4-6 14, Stuckey 9-18 12-12 30, Taylor 2-3 0-0 5, Hinton 0-2 3-4 3, Penoncello 0-1 0-0 0, Humphrey 1-2 2-2 4, Zumwalt 0-0 0-0 0, Moore 4-8 0-1 8. Totals 30-63 27-35 90.
Halftime—Eastern Washington 41, Eastern Oregon 37. 3-Point Goals—Eastern Oregon 9-21 (Templeton 3-6, McIntosh 3-8, Cropper 1-1, Fryer 1-1, M.Carollo 1-5), Eastern Washington 3-8 (Krayem 2-2, Taylor 1-1, Humphrey 0-1, Hinton 0-1, Stuckey 0-3). Fouled Out—Brown, M.Carollo. Rebounds—Eastern Oregon 32 (McIntosh 8), Eastern Washington 40 (Risper 12). Assists—Eastern Oregon 19 (Templeton 5), Eastern Washington 17 (Stuckey 7). Total Fouls—Eastern Oregon 24, Eastern Washington 16. A—2,254.