Jan. 20, 2005
Final Stats
Pocatello, ID -- Jake Beitinger of Eastern Washington hit a 19-foot jumper from the right corner with 53.8 left to give Eastern Washington a 55-54 lead, one they would never relinquish as the Eagles came back to defeat Idaho State 60-56, handing the Bengals their sixth straight loss.
The Bengals, who trailed by 12 in the first half, came back and led with 1:08 to go after a pair of Jeff Gardner free throws. However, Kenneth Smith found Beitinger in the corner, and his basket was good to make it 55-54. Idaho State's Doug D'Amore missed a short jumper, and Eastern Washington hit six free throws down the stretch to seal it. Up 58-56 with 6.8 left, Eastern Washington nearly had a long pass stolen by Doug D'Amore, but the ball was just out of his reach.
It looked for a while like Idaho State would notch their first Big Sky win of the year as they played their best half in nearly a month as they shot .522 from the field. ISU, down 33-25 at the break, held Eastern Washington to just one field goal over the first 13:26 of the second half, opening a 44-37 lead on the strength of a 19-4 run. The Eagles finally awakened to the tune of an 11-2 run to take a 48-46 lead. The game then see-sawed back and forth until Beitinger's final dagger.
The Bengals, who dropped to 6-11 and 0-5 in the Big Sky, will bounce right back into action, taking on Portland State on Saturday night at 7:05 pm at Reed Gym.
Notes: The Bengals dropped to 0-5 in the Big Sky for the first time since the 1999-2000 season ... Idaho State's .432 shooting percentage was their best in any Big Sky game this year ... Eastern Washington did not score any points off of their offensive rebounds, of which they had 12 ... there was eight lead changes and eight ties.
