Eagle men sweep Sacramento State

CHENEY - A couple of decisive scoring runs and a career day led the Eastern Washington University men's basketball team to a Big Sky Conference sweep of visiting Sacramento State in back-to-back games Sunday and Monday, Jan. 31 and Feb. 1.

After a slow start likely resulting from a lack of practice the previous week, the Eagles used an 18-1 run - including a streak of 14 straight points - to stake a 37-22 lead at intermission and held on for a 68-60 win over the Hornets on Sunday. Twenty-four hours later, the Eagles responded with a career scoring output from sophomore Tyler Robertson and runs of 16-2 and 16-0 to rally for 94-79 win.

Both teams battled through the first 12 minutes on Sunday, engaging in four ties and six lead changes before Eastern began its run with 8 minutes, 12 seconds before the half and Sacramento State leading 21-19. Senior Jacob Davison began the 18-point run with five points, and was followed by nine from junior Tanner Groves - all on 3-pointers - before redshirt freshman Steele Venters ended things with four points before the half.

Sacramento State missed their final 12 shots of the half from the field, managing just one free throw in the span of EWU's outburst. The Hornets hit their first two shots in the second half, and eventually cut the lead to seven, but Eastern maintained its lead with Robertson scoring 11 second-half points en route to the win.

"I'm proud of the way we played," Eastern head coach Shantay Legans said. "I'm particularly proud of the way we defended and rebounded in that first half."

Groves finished with 23 points, a career-high 15 rebounds, two assists and a blocked shot - notching his third straight double-double. Robertson added 13 points.

Eastern outshot Sacramento State 42 % to 35 % for the game, including a 45% to 32 % margin in the first half. The Eagles outrebounded the Hornets 41-33, including 22-15 in the first 20 minutes.

The Hornets started fast on Monday, opening a 19-4 lead Eastern managed to trim to 23-15 at one point. Sacramento State stretched the margin back to 10 at 30-20 before the Eagles responded with a 16-2 run, led by eight points from sophomore Jacob Groves, to go up 36-32 with 4:42 in the half.

A 3-pointer at the buzzer gave the Hornets a 46-43 lead at the break. But in the second half, it was all Eastern as the Eagles opened an eight-point lead before going on a 16-0 run that turned a 64-62 margin into an 80-62 blowout with 6:59 to play. Eastern led by as many as 21 points and no less than 13 the rest of the way in the win.

Robertson came off the bench to lead Eastern in scoring with a career-best 20 points on 7-of-8 shooting, with Tanner Groves adding 17, Davison 14 and Jacob Groves and sophomore Michael Meadows each with 11. The Eagles shot 63.3 % from the field, including 70 % in the second half. 

"Our offense in the second half was amazing," Legans said. "We took it strong to the hole, and we had 46 points in the paint. We had 47 bench points and that's hard to guard when you have players coming off the bench doing that."

The wins move Eastern to 5-2 in BSC play, 6-6 overall. The Eagles are currently third in the conference, trailing Montana (6-0) and Southern Utah (6-2) with a chance to move even higher if they can manage a pair of wins this week at Idaho Feb. 4 and in Cheney Feb. 6.

While 0-9 in the conference and 0-13 overall, the Vandals are always a tough opponent. A year ago, Eastern edged the Vandals in Moscow 78-75 but fell by a similar margin at Reese Court, with Idaho winning 74-71

Entering Thursday's game, 6-foot-8 senior forward Scott Blakney is averaging 11.6 points per game to lead Idaho, and 5-11 senior guard Damen Thacker averages 10.8 points, 2.8 rebounds and 2.7 assists.

Saturday's game will be broadcast regionally on SWX.

John McCallum can be reached at jmac@cheneyfreepress.com.