Eastern Washington Tops MSU on Thursday - Montana State University Athletics

Thursday, January 5

Cheney, WA

7 p.m. MT

Montana State University

1-26-10/ Big Sky

Eastern Washington

2-010-5/ Big Sky

Team	1	2	F
Montana State	22	42	64
Eastern Washington	34	48	82

Devonte Klines

Photo by: Kelly Gorham

1/5/2017 9:25:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

Tyler Hall scores 33 in loss

By: MSU Sports Information

Eastern Washington benefitted from long runs in each half to post an 82-64 win over Montana State at Reese Court on Thursday night.

The Eagles ripped off an 18-3 run in the first half and a 16-3 run in the second to seal the win. Jacob Wiley's career high of 25 points led Eastern Washington, and Felix Von Hofe added 19 to offset Tyler Hall's 33-point effort for the Cats. It was Hall's sixth career 30-point game.

"They had a big height advantage," said Bobcat guard Devonte Klines, who at 6-0 spent most of the night guarding Bogdan Bliznyuk, a half-foot taller. "That was difficult for us."

Bobcat coach Brian Fish said the game's fulcrum arrived at the outset, when the Eagles established themselves physically. "They physically whipped us," MSU's third-year coach said. "As the game got into the first four or five minutes I thought we got tired, and they were just physically stronger."

That's the point at which Eastern launched its first long scoring run. After MSU grabbed an 8-4 lead EWU scored 18 of the next 21 points, and held the Cats without a basket for nearly 12 minutes.

"From that point on I thought we responded ver well," Fish said. "We adjusted to their physicality and cut into the lead."

After Eastern built a 45-30 lead with 16:41 to play, the Cats fought back. MSU scored 11 straight points, and eventually drew within 48-47 at 11:49. Hall at one point scored 17 straight points for the Cats, but that's as close as MSU would get. The Eagles answered with a 16-3 run to seal the outcome.

The first half proved a massive offensive struggle for the Bobcats. The team shot just 27%, turned the ball over 10 times, and was out-rebounded 18-to-11 by Eastern. The Eagles scored 24 points in the paint and 15 of turnovers, dominating nearly every way possible. MSU hit 8 of its 10 free throws, the team's only offensive bright spot.

A basket by Tyler Hall with 16:47 to play in the first half gave MSU an 8-4 lead. It took the Cats until the 5:06 mark to get another, and that came on Benson Osayande's second-chance basket. When Hall's jumper just before the half made the score 34-22, the second-fewest points scored by MSU in a half this season and the second-fewest allowed by the Eagles.

Eastern Washington shot 60% on the night, including 67% after the intermission. MSU finished with 38% shooting. The Eagles out-rebounded MSU 34-to-26.

Montana State falls to 6-10 overall, 1-2 in the league, while EWU is 10-5, 2-0. MSU plays at Idaho on Saturday at 8 pm MT.