Jan. 9, 2009
Final Stats
Cheney, WA --- After battling back from down nine late in the game to tie the game at 60 with 2:59 left, Eastern Washington pulled away with 11 points down the stretch to take down Idaho State 71-65 in a game where the Eagles made ISU pay from the line, going 20-for-21 from the line.
Eastern Washington, who led 27-25 at the half, got a huge swing when up 52-49, blocked Lucas Steijn's point blank shot. Head Coach Joe O'Brien lobbied for a foul, but instead was issued two quick technicals and was ejected. The ensuing four free throws from Milan Stanojevic were good, and then Eastern converted two more and it was suddenly 58-49 with 7:44 to go. However, ISU battled right back.
Amorrow Morgan, one of three Bengals with 13 points, hit two free throws and then a jumper to make it 58-53. After an Eastern basket Chron Tatum and Deividas Busma scored to make it a 60-59 game. Morgan then hit one of two free throws to tie it at 60 with 2:59 left.
However, Eastern would ultimately have an answer. Mark Dunn converted two free throws to give Eastern the lead for good on a Busma block attempt, and then after a turnover by Morgan, Stanojevic got his second three-shot foul of the game, and he converted all of those as well to make it 65-60. ISU eventually cut the lead back to two at 67-65 on a Stucki three with 37.2 left, but after Benny Valentine hit two free throws, Stucki missed a three in the corner and Valentine scored a layup to finish it at 71-65.
The Bengals had four in double-figures, with Tatum, Morgan, and Donnie Carson all scoring 13, and Tatum had his first career double-double with 13 rebounds as well. Busma chipped in 10. Stanojevic had 20 for the night, 10-of-10 from the line, while Brandon Moore had 17 and Valentine had 14.
Amazingly, ISU outshot Eastern .481 to .469, hit more baskets 25-13, more threes 6-to-5, outrebounding them 29-27, yet it was Eastern's potency from the line that ultimately spelled doom.
Now, the Bengals head to Portland State to take on the Vikings, who saw their 15-game Big Sky winning streak come to an end with an 80-66 home loss to Weber State. That game is at 8:05 pm Mountain Time.
NOTES: The ejection was the second of O'Brien's ISU career, after getting two technicals against Northern Arizona last year ... Associate Head Coach Steve Swanson took over ... the Bengals were 6-of-11 from three, hitting their first five of the game ... Sherrod Baldwin scored five in his first career start, including his first career three ... Morgan led ISU with six assists.
