Rematch of Big Sky championship

The Weber State Wildcats got off to a shaky start this season in the Big Sky Conference, but thanks to two straight wins on the road they're back in the thick of things. The Wildcats won a hard fought game in the Stott Center against Portland State and now are back to 3-3 in conference play.

Weber State outrebounded Portland State 34-17 and is outrebounding their opponents by over 10 boards a game in conference play. Although Eastern did a good job on the glass in their blowout win over Idaho State, the Wildcats are a very physical team that the Eagles don't matchup particularly well against. "Both Matt and Marc are going to have tough matchups. They're big and physical, so we'll have our work cut out for us," said head coach Ray Giacoletti.

The Wildcats are lead by the scoring of forward Slobodan Ocokoljic and Lance Allred. Allred is coming off a 21 point effort against Portland State on
Thursday.

EWU picks apart ISU zone, wins 5th straight

The Eastern Eagles executed their offense to perfection against the Idaho State zone in Thursday's 100-73 win. Here's the game story from the S-R's Dave Trimmer. As Kurt Eilmes of the Idaho State Journal writes, it was a game that cemented the Eagles as the Big Sky's true first-place team.

Next up for the Eagles is Weber State at 7:05 Saturday night at Reese Court.

ISU zone worries coach, not players

Here's John Blanchette's column about Eastern in today's S-R.

The Eastern Eagles will face a rare type of defense on Thursday as Idaho State brings their 1-1-3 zone to Reese Court. The zone was something that caused the Eagles some troubles last year in their losses to the Bengals and has coach Ray Giacoletti concerned offensively. "It's something we haven't handled really well this year and we're going to need to do a real good job attacking their zone," said Giacoletti.

The players don't seem as concerned with the Bengals' defensive strategy. "Thats my thing, I love when people play zone," said senior Josh Barnard, who is shooting 52 percent from outside the arc. "We've gotten hot a couple of times against zones and our big guys are doing a lot better job finishing right now so I think the zone will help us," said Barnard.

"Against the zone, you get a little more shooting. It's just a matter of it your shot is on or not," said senior Brendon Merritt. The Eagles as a team shooting over 37 percent from the three point line, but if the shots are dropping from the outside they could be in for a long night.

Merritt good to go Thursday

Senior point guard Brendon Merritt will play this Thursday against Idaho State after having his left shoulder pop out of place last Saturday. "Whenever your shoulder comes out, it's not good. I think it came out a little bit, but they were able to get it back in right away," said coach Ray
Giacoletti.

"It's all right. It's a little bit weak still, but it'll be ready on Thursday," said Merritt. Merritt will have his hands full against Idaho State when he is matched up with the Bengals' slasher and leading scorer Marquis Poole. Poole, a senior, is coming off a career-high 33-point effort last Saturday against Northern Arizona. He also racked up six rebounds and five assists in the loss.

Eagles find confidence

The Eastern Eagles return home, riding a four-game winning streak that includes the last three on the road. After a rough preseason schedule, the Eagles look to have found a new sense of confidence. "The guys seem to have a little more composure and find ways to get things done. We've been behind at halftime in two of the last three games and fought our way back in the second half," said head coach Ray Giacoletti.

"Once we lost a couple games, I think we lost a little confidence in ourselves. But we needed a big win on the road and I think it started with the Santa Clara game. It really helped us out a lot, giving us that confidence that we can go on the road and win," said senior Josh Barnard.

"Preseason was rough and we just had to stay focused. We're in a good position right now and we just have to keep it moving," said senior Brendon Merritt.

But the Eagles know that continuing this streak will not be easy in a conference that is balanced and competitive. "Everybody's good this year, every game's been close and there hasn't been any real blowouts," said Merritt.

"To finally come out and get four wins in a row feels real good right now, but we know it's a long season. We've just got to make sure we finish it out," said Barnard.

The Eagles are 4-1 in the Big Sky with Idaho State, Montana State and
Northern Arizona are all just one game behind in second place at 3-2.

Bengals lose tough one at home, EWU awaits

The Idaho State Bengals were in a first place tie with Eastern Washington University in the Big Sky Conference entering last weekend, but after a devastating home loss to Northern Arizona find themselves in a three-way tie for second place. As Kurt Eilmes of the Idaho State Journal writes, it was an opportunity at home that the Bengals let slip away down the stretch.

The Bengals now go on the road to take on Eastern Washington University on Thursday night. The Bengals knocked off Eastern at home last year and will hope to have junior forward Che Jordan back crashing the boards. Jordan has missed the Bengals' previous two games attending to personal matters at home.

Eagles win on the road, again.

Here's Jim Meehan's game story from Saturday night's win over Portland State. An excerpt:

The clutch shots, timely steals and alert zone defense aside, Eastern Washington University basketball coach Ray Giacoletti's widest smile was reserved for something else.

"We're starting to have some composure," Giacoletti said. "Man, it'd sure be nice if we can sustain it."

How else to explain an Eagles' team that went from playing 20 unsightly minutes to 20 of their finest of the season, fueling a 71-63 comeback victory over Portland State before 1,326 Saturday at the Stott Center?

Rebounding will be key for EWU

In what looks to be a very balanced Big Sky Conference, the Eagles will face another solid and athletic team in Portland State this Saturday. The Vikings feature a strong scoring duo in JC transfer Blake Walker and senior Seamus Boxley. Walker came from San Bernardino Valley JC in California and is averaging 17.9 points per game. Boxley is a walk-on from Mountlake Terrace High School and was just named the Big Sky Conference's co-player of the week.

"There so athletic and they have a number of skill guys, which will force us into a lot of tough matchups on defense," says Eagles head coach Ray Giacoletti. But the key to this game will be who can clean up on the boards. The Vikings outrebound their opponents by six rebounds per game, while the Eagles opponents average three more rebounds per game. "We need to do a great job of boxing out and not allowing any second shots," says Giacoletti.

Boxley leads the conference in rebounding at 9.5 per game. The Eagles will look once again to their own all-conference forward, Marc Axton, to slow down Boxley. Axton was the one responsible for snapping NAU's Aaron Bond's nine straight games of double figure scoring. Bond only had six
points in NAU's loss against Eastern last week.

Easier week comes at a great time

With the Eagles only having one game on the schedule this week, it was a time for the team to take a day off and rest, something that teams usually don't get in the middle of conference play. "You've usually only got Monday and Tuesday to improve, with traveling starting Wednesday for the Thursday, Saturday games, so hopefully we have a chance to improve and get better," says head coach Ray Giacoletti.

Merritt to play Saturday

The Eagles received good news, as senior Brendon Merritt will be in the starting lineup this Saturday at Portland State. Merritt suffered a knee bruise in the first minute of last Saturday's win over Sac State. Although he returned later in that game, he played only 16 minutes and didn't score.

"I think we got really lucky because the bruise was on the inside of the knee and anytime that happens you have to worry about ligament problems," said coach Ray Giacoletti. "But he practiced well on Monday and Tuesday, so I think he'll be fine."

The Eagles will need Merritt in the lineup as they are already thin at the guard position. Merritt suffered the injury just one game after leading the team with a season-high 19 points in the win against NAU.

PSU player Big Sky co-player of the week

Junior forward Seamus Boxley was named Big Sky co-player of the week for his performances on the road this past weekend. As you can see on the Big Sky Web site, Boxley's stats from this weekend say it all. Boxley leads the Big Sky in rebounding with 9.5 per game and is also seventh in scoring at 13.9 per game. He has also recorded a double-double in a league-high seven games.

Look for the Vikings to try to punish the Eagles inside with Boxley. If the forward can get some of the Eagle big men in early foul trouble, it could force EWU coach Ray Giacoletti into some different lineups he's not comfortable using.

Vikings get big win on road, EWU next

The Portland State Vikings snapped a nine-game conference road losing streak Saturday as they knocked off NAU in Flagstaff. The win improved the team to 2-2 in the Big Sky, but it also helped the team's confidence, as Aaron Fentress writes in the Oregonian.

The Vikings are now in a three-way tie for third place in the very balanced and competitive Big Sky Conference. They return home for the next two weeks, starting with EWU Saturday night.

Clutch free throws lift Eagles over Sac State

Here's the S-R game story from Saturday night's game against Sacramento State. For a different take on the game, read the story in the Sacramento Bee.

Sac State Coach Jerome Jenkins seemed to make the most rational and logical decision with his team down by two with 38 seconds left to play in the game. With his team on defense, he decided to make Eastern earn the game from the free-throw line. The Eagles entering that point in the game were a horrid 8 for 18 from the charity stripe. But as Sam Amick writes in the Bee, the Eagles didn't cooperate.

The Eagles are now 3-1 in the Big Sky thanks to the wins on the road this past weekend. Next week they will take on the Portland State Vikings, who are coming off an emotional win in Flagstaff against Northern Arizona.

Defense keys road win

The Eastern Eagles got a very short and sweet halftime lecture from coach Ray Giacoletti Thursday night in Flagstaff. "Until we want to play defense and sell it out on every possession, we're going to be mediocre." This was all that was said as the coach left the locker room. The Eastern players took this to heart, especially Danny Pariseau as Chris Lang writes in the Arizona Daily Sun.

Here's the wire story that ran in the S-R on Eastern's big win over Northern Arizona Thursday night.

The Eagles defense held the Big Sky's most potent offense to only 14 points in the final 15 minutes and 19 seconds. The Eagles also limited NAU's leading scorer Aaron Bond to six points, the first time in the past nine games that Bond has been held under double digits.

The Eagles now travel to Sacramento to take on the Hornets of Sacramento State Saturday night at 7:05. As Sam Amick of the Sacramento Bee writes, the Hornets are coming off their first league victory, over Portland State, 76-64 on Thursday.

Although the Hornets might not shoot the ball well at times and are known to commit quite a few turnovers, coach Giacoletti believes that in their gym anything can happen. "When they play in their little gym, it seems like the court is 10 feet shorter. With the way they pressure the ball, they really have a lot of confidence in that little place," said Giacoletti.

Sacramento State finally has Cedric Thompkins, their 6 foot 7 inch senior power forward back, who made his presence felt Thursday, scoring 19 points and opening up shots on the perimeter for guys like Brandon Guyton and Joel Jones. "This is kind of their year," says Giacoletti. "They had some kids ineligible, they redshirted some kids, but all those guys are seniors now and are extremely talented."

Eagles face tough, rough NAU

The Eastern Eagles open up their conference road schedule tonight as they look to knock off the Northern Arizona Lumberjacks. As Chris Lang writes in the Arizona Daily Sun, this game could be one that is physical, scrappy and maybe even pretty ugly to watch.

The Lumberjacks look to have their senior point guard Chris Ferguson back running the show tonight. Ferguson missed the conference opener last weekend due to a sprained left ankle and is listed as questionable.

Thursday's opponent: Northern Arizona

The Northern Arizona Lumberjacks were a one-man team last year, relying on
senior Ryan McDade to do it all. If he didn't go, neither did the
Lumberjacks as Chris Lang writes in the Arizona Daily Sun.

The Lumberjacks are lead by senior Aaron Bond, who averages over 15 points per game. But after Bond got in foul trouble last weekend against Sacramento State, Northern Arizona didn't falter as they have in the past when losing their scoring leader. The Lumberjacks bring that balance to Cheney when they take on Eastern Washington University Thursday night.

Bond and Eastern Washington junior Marc Axton might not have that much in common outside of basketball, but on the court they're almost identical. "Bond is like Marc Axton, he's versatile, he can shoot the ball or go post up," said Eastern head coach Ray Giacoletti. "I think Marc will do a good job neutralizing him."

Axton is coming off a 19-point effort against Montana State in which he hit 5 of 7 from the three-point line. Bond is hitting over 42 percent from the arc. Both average well over double figures in scoring and are important to their teams success. They will be matched up head-to-head Thursday night in what could be a preview of two first-team all-conference performers.

Defense getting up to par

After a disappointing loss on Thursday night in the conference opener against Montana, the Eastern Eagles' defense came to play with fierce intensity on Saturday. Senior Alvin Snow lead the Eagles with five steals, many leading to easy baskets.
"Once our defense gave us a couple of easy baskets, our offense started to get in the flow of things," coach Ray Giacoletti said of the win over Montana State. "Alvin's been our heart and soul for the last four years of how we want to play defense and his energy at the defensive end of the floor gets everyone else rejuvenated."

Although the Eagles have allowed their opponents to shoot 47 percent from the field, coach Giacoletti said the defense is making steps in the right direction. "We're not as efficient defensively as we have been in the past three years, but it's headed in the right direction now, so hopefully it's something we can continue to improve on."

EWU falls to Montana, Bobcats up next

Here's a link to Jim Meehan's game story from Thursday night's Montana win over EWU. Here's the lead:

The Montana men's basketball team came in with an eight-game losing streak and an 0-6 mark on the road. Eastern Washington was 3-0 at Reese Court.

Grizzlies guard Kevin Criswell had made 18 percent of his 3-pointers in the last six games. Steve Horne was shooting 35 percent for the season.

Naturally, Criswell and Horne teamed for 44 points and seemed to hit every shot they looked at as the Grizzlies thumped EWU 79-68 in front of 2,422 fans Thursday at Reese Court.

For a slightly different take on the game, here's the game story from the Missoulian.

Montana State downs Portland State, EWU Next

The Montana State Bobcats overcame the weather and the Vikings as they extended their winning streak to six games. As Tony Castleberry writes in the Bozeman Daily Chronicle, the win wasn't pretty but they'll take it.

Montana State will now travel to Cheney to take on the Eagles Saturday night at 7:05 at Reese Court. The Eagles will look to shut down the Bobcats' inside-outside offense with center Matt Towsley down low and guards Jason Erickson and Nick Dissly on the perimeter. Erickson is the senior and anchor of the team, averaging a team-high 15.5 points per game.

The Eagles will have to bring more emotion than they did Thursday night against Montana because road wins are tough to come by in the Big Sky and especially for Eastern. The Eagles are 1-9 on the road and if they start off 0-2 at home, they could be in for a long season.

The wait ends tonight

The Big Sky Conference schedule gets under way tonight as the Eagles host the Montana Grizzlies and the Montana State Bobcats travel to Portland State. After a long and grueling non-conference schedule, both the Eagles and Griz look to get back to their winning ways. They both hope to get their stars on track as Bob Meseroll writes in the Missoulian.

Tony Castleberry writes in the Bozeman Daily Chronicle about how Montana
State had to battle the weather to get to Portland to play Portland State tonight. Portland has been virtually shut down all week because of snow and freezing rain.

The Bobcats hold the best non-conference record in the Big Sky at 8-5, but eight of those games were played at home. The Bobcats are also coming off an impressive win over Colorado State on the road. They will travel after the game and fight more snowy conditions to take on the Eagles Saturday night in Cheney.

Grizzlies look to end losing streak

The Montana Grizzlies are struggling and are in the midst of an eight-game losing streak. But as Bob Meseroll writes in the Missoulian, the Griz are just happy to be back in conference play.

Also in the Missoulian, Meseroll picks EWU to finish second in the Big Sky. His preview of the Big Sky Conference takes a look at every team's past record, head coach, best wins and losses of the season and some players to watch during conference play. But, once again, the Eagles are picked to finish second, which would be their fourth straight second-place finish in the Big Sky. No surprise is that defending conference champion Weber State, even without Jermaine Boyette, is still picked to go back to the NCAA tournament in March.

The battle of similarities

The Eagles will take on the Montana Grizzlies on Thursday, in a game that features two very similar styles of play. "They are more perimeter-oriented and we've got to do a good job being disciplined with our defense," says EWU Coach Ray Giacoletti.

The Eagles are also a team that relies on their shooting to carry them. With the likes of Alvin Snow, Josh Barnard and Marc Axton, who could blame them? They're shooting a combined 41 percent from the three-point line and all are averaging over 10 points per game.

"The Grizzlies feature sophomore standout Kevin Criswell, who is off to a slow start this year only shooting 34 percent from the field, but 92 percent from the free throw line averaging almost 12 points per game. But don't look for Criswell to be the only option for the Grizzlies.

"They might be as talented one through 10 as anyone in the league but they're searching for an identity and looking for the right mix of players and rotations right now. They also had a tough non-conference schedule. So we're a lot alike in those categories," says Giacoletti.

But don't look for the Eagles to try to out-run the Grizzlies. Their goal is to have 12 or fewer turnovers per game. Look for the Eagles to take good care of the basketball and really focus on trying to outrebound the physical Grizzly big men inside.

Freshman starts, makes impression on coaches

"Freshman forward/center Matt Nelson from Issaquah has been a pleasant surprise to the Eagles this season. After losing center TJ Williams and forward Chris Hester to graduation, the Eagles were in need of some help on the glass. "Outrebounding our opponents is important and when we've done that we've been successful this season," says Coach Giacoletti.

Nelson is shooting 53 percent from the field, has started six games and averages almost seven points and five rebounds per game. "Anytime you have a freshman starting and putting up numbers like he has, especially against the type of people we've played, it's impressive. He's been the biggest surprise to us this year," says Giacoletti.

As long as Nelson stays out of foul trouble, look for him to get the big minutes in tight games as the season progresses.

No place like home

It took Eastern a lot longer than expected to notch its first road victory of the season, a 65-54 victory Jan. 3 at Santa Clara, but it came at just the right time with the Big Sky conference schedule beginning Thursday.

"That was huge, we were really struggling on the road and weren't able to finish the games. But it felt really good putting 40 minutes together on Saturday and finally getting a win," says senior Josh Barnard. "We needed a boost, our morale was down and we needed to get a win and get our confidence back up," says junior Marc Axton.

The Eagles "real season" begins with the rivalry between Eastern and the Montana Grizzlies at Reese Court in Cheney at 7:05 p.m. Thursday. "Now everything counts. This is the season, these 14 games is all we have and we gotta make the most of it starting with Montana this week," says senior Alvin Snow.

Eastern is 3-0 at home. The Eagles shoot better from both the field, 51 percent at home compared to 44 percent on the road, and from the free throw line, shooting over 70 percent at home compared to less than 65 percent on the road. The Eagles also take much better care of the basketball averaging a mere 12 turnovers in their three home victories so far this season.

Coach hopes tough schedule will benefit Eagles

The Eastern Eagles are off to a slow start with a 4-9 non-conference record, including only one road win. But if you look at their strength of schedule they are 18th nationally. This is thanks to playing the likes of Oklahoma, Iowa, and Gonzaga, all on the road.

"We're back to 0-0 now. We're going to find out if playing tough opponents and being in tough positions late in games will help us in conference play," says head coach Ray Giacoletti.

Is the Big Sky ready for respect?

Sports columnist Rial Cummings of the Missoulian says the notion that the Big Sky is ready for prime time is "snake oil."

The Big Sky Conference may be looking for more national respect, but after the non-conference starts by many teams, it's obvious the conference is not ready for such attention. The only non-conference games that the Eastern Eagles have won were two victories against a weaker West Coast Conference Santa Clara team.

The rest of the teams in the conference have no quality wins to show except for a 74-73 win by Northern Arizona against unrated UNLV. So will the Big Sky winner be ready to step up and be a better than 13, 14, or 15 seed in the NCAA tournament?