Stuckey leads Eagles romp
PORTLAND – Rodney Stuckey scored 24 points and had seven assists Saturday afternoon to lead Eastern Washington to an 88-70 win over Portland State in Big Sky Conference play.
Paul Butorac scored 21 points on 8-of-13 shooting from the floor and Omar Krayem added 16 points for the Eagles (9-9, 3-3). Krayem had his first double-figure scoring game in a month, and also added a season-high nine assists and four steals.
Deonte Lucas led PSU (11-8, 2-4) with 16 points. Paul Hafford chipped in 11 points off the bench for the Vikings, who have lost three of their last four games.
EWU seized control of the game midway through the first half. The Eagles led 40-34 at halftime and extended their lead to 51-40 on a short jumper by Kellen Williams with 16:17 left to play.
The Eagles then went on a 10-2 run midway through the second half and led 65-48 when Marcus Hinton connected on a 3-pointer with 10:51 left to play. The Vikings never challenged the rest of the way.
“Whichever team won today was going to take a little bit of momentum into next weekend,” said EWU coach Mike Burns. “We took care of splitting on the road, which was the plan. If we can find a way to sweep one of these road weekends, we’ll be right where we need to be.”
The Eagles shot 53 percent in the second half and 47 percent for the game while holding PSU to 41 percent from the field.
Eastern has won four consecutive games over the Vikings.
“What’s eerie about this win is that almost a year ago today we were in a similar situation in this building,” said Burns, whose team went on to finish third in the regular season last year and defeat PSU in the quarterfinals of the Big Sky tournament. “We were 0-2 in the league and needed a win.”
Eastern is 3-8 away from home this season, including last week’s 88-87 win at Northern Colorado and an 87-66 romp at Portland on Dec. 9.
The Eagles are in the midst of a stretch in which eight of 10 games are on the road.
EWU 88, Portland St. 70
Eastern Washington (9-9, 3-3)—Penoncello 0-1 0-0 0, Williams 7-9 0-0 15, Butorac 8-13 5-8 21, Hinton 3-6 0-0 8, Stuckey 6-15 11-12 24, Krayem 4-8 5-6 16, Humphrey 0-0 0-0 0, Zumwalt 0-3 0-0 0, Risper 0-2 0-0 0, Taylor 1-4 1-2 4, Moore 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 29-61 22-28 88.
Portland State (11-8, 2-4)—Huff 5-8 0-0 10, Kamara 4-13 0-2 9, Morrison 2-5 0-0 4, Sommer 1-3 0-0 3, Lucas 8-19 0-0 16, Thomas 3-4 0-3 6, Smith 0-1 0-0 0, Hafford 3-13 2-2 11, Coston 1-1 0-0 2, Washington 3-6 3-6 9, Jenkins 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 30-73 5-13 70.
Halftime—Eastern Washington 40, Portland State 34. 3-point goals—Eastern Washington 8-21 (Krayem 3-5, Hinton 2-2, Williams 1-3, Taylor 1-3, Stuckey 1-5, Penoncello 0-1, Zumwalt 0-2), Portland State 5-21 (Hafford 3-10, Sommer 1-2, Kamara 1-6, Lucas 0-3). Fouled out—None. Rebounds—Eastern Washington 38 (Stuckey 8), Portland State 44 (Huff, Washington 7). Assists—Eastern Washington 22 (Krayem 9), Portland State 18 (Huff 4). Total fouls—Eastern Washington 18, Portland State 20. A—920.