Eastern Washington Holds Off Late Bobcat Rally in Cheney

Saturday, January 11

Cheney, WA

2:05 pm PT

Montana State University

8-7, 3-1Big Sky

at EASTERN WASHINGTON

7-8, 2-2Big Sky

Montana State

Eastern Washington

Flavien Davis posted his first double-double of the season Saturday

Photo by: Kelly Gorham

Eastern Washington Holds Off Late Bobcat Rally in Cheney

1/11/2014 6:22:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

MSU falls 77-72 after overcoming big first-half deficit

By: Bill Lamberty

In a game of major scoring runs Eastern Washington made the last, and the Eagles held off Montana State 77-72 in Cheney on Saturday.

The Bobcats overcame a 16-point deficit in the first half and lost a nine-point lead in the second, and in the end came up just short of notching a weekend road sweep. "It felt like an 80-minute game jammed into 40 with all the swings and the emotion," said MSU coach Brad Huse. "Unfortunately we didn't have enough points at the end, but I'm proud of our guys. They fought and they showed tremendous spirit to win."

Eastern Washington hit its first six three-pointers of the game, shooting 52% in the first half in building its lead. But MSU used a 12-3 run to close the first half, the last of those a three-pointer by Stehpan Holm in the final minute, to cut the lead to 43-36 at the intermission.

After a Martin Seiferth layup opened the second half for the Eagles, MSU methodically decimated the lead. Two free throws and a couple of jumpers from Mike Dison and a short jumper by Flavien Davis tied the game at 47-47 just three-and-a-half minutes into the second half. But the Bobcats run continued, and Antonio Biglow's layup with 12:53 to play gave MSU a 61-50 lead and capped a 37-10 run that sandwiched halftime.

Huse credited his team's defense. "We got up and guarded, we scrambled, trapped and pressed, we just did a great job asserting our will," he said.

But the Eagles answered. A pair of free throws by Parker Kelly with 12:43 remaining began an 8-0 Eastern run, and when Tyler Harvey hit a three-pointer with 4:47 to play the Eagles led 67-66. Calen Coleman's layup on the next possession gave the Bobcats a short-lived lead, but Venky Jois' layup put EWU on top to stay.

Embedded in Eastern Washington's second-half comeback was a tough night for MSU at the free throw line. The Bobcats finished 13-for-26 from the stripe, including just 7-for- 18 in the second half. The Bobcats endured a three-minute scoring drought after building the 11-point lead, and in that stretch the team missed four free throw attempts, one of which was a one-and-on.

"There's a great competitive spirit in our locker room, and I'm proud of that," Huse said. "We shot ourselves in the foot with free throws, but credit Eastern. They didn't panic. We had them on the ropes, but it's hard to sustain that kind of momentum on the road. To take that lead in the second half and not finish hurts, and the guys are hurting in that locker room."

Even through the shooting woes of the last 10 minutes, Montana State put itself in position to win in the last minute. Flavien Davis hit a short jumper with 45 seconds to play to tie the game at 72, but on the next possession Thomas Reuter answered for Eastern. Davis' shot on the next possession was blocked, and Eastern finished the game by hitting three of four free throws.

Davis scored 17 points to lead five Bobcats in double-digits. The senior forward also posted a season-high 10 rebounds and added three steals and two assists. Tyler Harvey's 19 points for Eastern Washington led all players. The Bobcats out-rebounded EWU 42-41 on the strength of grabbing 17 caroms off their own backboard. MSU forced 16 Eagle turnovers, while giving it away just eight times.