Improved defense carries Eastern Washington past Montana State 68-63

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Jan. 4—It was 10 minutes after the final buzzer, and most of the Eastern Washington men’s basketball team had made its way back out to Reese Court — except for Nic McClain.

The redshirt junior had just scored seven of Eastern’s last 10 points, helping them to close out a 68-63 victory over Montana State, the Eagles’ first Big Sky victory this season.

But McClain was still back in the locker room, getting coached by assistant Larry Anderson.

Asked about it after he emerged, McClain said simply, “That’s how you get better.”

McClain’s performance Saturday mirrored that of the entire Eagles team. Compared to their 92-81 loss Thursday to Montana, the Eagles’ showing against the Bobcats demonstrated marked improvement.

“It was just much needed,” EWU head coach Dan Monson said of the victory, the 450th of his coaching career, “because it’s a young group that is trying to get better, and the coaches see it. But as a player, you’ve got to feel it, and they felt it today.”

Eastern didn’t shoot all that well (44.6%), and it made just 1 of 14 3s, a season low. Its 68 points were the fourth fewest Eastern (5-10, 1-1 Big Sky) had scored all year.

But on defense, it was arguably the Eagles’ best performance. Montana State (5-10, 1-1) was 19 of 52 from the floor, the lowest percentage (36.5) and number of field goals made by an Eagles’ opponent all season.

The Bobcats also had just five offensive rebounds — fewer than all but two previous EWU opponents — and went 6 of 22 from 3-point range.

The relatively poor shooting nights for both teams kept the game close: Neither team led by more than seven.

The ebb and flow settled into a tie with 3:45 to go when MSU’s Tyler Patterson’s 3-pointer evened the game at 58 and prompted Montana State to call a timeout.

“At (that) timeout I said, ‘This is where we grow,’ ” Monson said. “We have the ball in a tie game with 4 minutes to go. We have the advantage. And if we just get stops, we’re going to win.”

That’s just what the Eagles got. The Bobcats missed…

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/improved-defense-carries-eastern-washington-030100303.html

Author : The Spokesman-Review, Spokane, Wash.

Publish date : 2025-01-05 03:01:00

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