Eagles magical season comes to an end

The Eastern Eagles played right with the number two seed Oklahoma State
Cowboys at Kemper Arena, but unfortunately it was for only one half. The
Eagles were tied entering the final 20 minutes of play, when the Cowboys
showed everyone in the nation why they are a team to be reckoned with. As
Corey Brock of the News Tribune writes, it was a game that the Cowboys almost took for granted.

For another look at the game check out the article by Kevin Kaduk in the Seattle Times.

The loss ends the Eagles season, which witnessed a number of firsts. The
Eagles had the longest winning streak in school history at 11, they also won
the regular season Big Sky Championship outright for the first time. They
won the conference tournament for the first time and made their first ever
NCAA tournament appearance. Although they may be disappointed with the way
the second half went yesterday, it was an amazing season for the Eagles and
one that EWU fans will never forget.

Eagles make NCAA debut

The Eagles' first-round matchup against Oklahoma State is drawing comparisons to the very difficult non-conference schedule the Eagles played this season. The Eagles finished 3-9 and as Bob Condotta writes in the Seattle Times, the scheduling may have helped but also hurt the team at times.

Although the Cowboys are extremely athletic, the Eagles will look to use their Princeton-style offensive to their advantage and try to slow down the run-and-gun offense of Oklahoma State.

Eastern to square off against Oklahoma State

The Eagles have waited a long time to see their name on the big board of 65 teams for the NCAA tournament, but Sunday it finally hit home. They are paired up against the No. 2 seeded Oklahoma State Cowboys, a team most analysts are picking to make the Final Four.
Check out Jim Meehan's piece from the S-R.
And here's a story from the Seattle Times.

Students anticipate Selection Sunday

The Eastern Eagles are waiting for their seeding, location and opponent and
still have to wait until 3 p.m. Sunday to find out. Meanwhile, the players
aren't the only ones awaiting the draw. Many students are contemplating
travelling to witness the Eagles' first NCAA tournament game, but this all
depends on where they play.

"If they play in Seattle, I'm going for sure," said senior Troy Handwerk.
"I've been waiting all four years for this and for them to be able to make
the tournament is awesome."

"I don't really have the money to go anywhere but Seattle and that's
assuming I can get one of the only 350 tickets available," said freshman
Michael Mosback. "If they stay close by that would be perfect."

Unfortunately the Eagles will probably play a top-10 team and will likely be
at least 20-point underdogs. But after three close, but not quite seasons,
not many students at Eastern really care.

"We're dancing no matter what, that's all that matters," said junior Brandon
Hair. "We aren't supposed to win and that's when upsets happen."

The Eagles hope to get as high as a 14 seed, but that would be as high of a
seed as they would get with only a 17-12 record coming out of a weaker
conference.

Finally, Eagles are dancing

The Eastern Eagles ended their 20-year drought for a bid to the NCAA tournament with an impressive second-half performance in a win over Northern Arizona.
Here are S-R stories by Kevin Blocker, John Blanchette, and Jim Meehan.

Here's one story from Bud Withers of the Seattle Times. Here's another.

Here's the article from the Arizona Daily Sun by Chris Lang.

Watch this Sunday on ESPN at 4 p.m. to find out what seed the Eagles will get,
where they will play and who their opponent will be. They likely will be a 14 or 15 seed playing against a top 10 team in the nation.

Fourth year a charm?

The Eastern Eagles cruised to a surprising 19-point win over the Weber State Wildcats last night in the Big Sky semifinals. The game never was close as the Eagles started on a 12-2 run. Click here and here to read more about the game.

The Eagles face the Northern Arizona Lumberjacks, who also were impressive in their 91-72 win over the Idaho State Bengals. NAU's leading scorer, Aaron Bond, caught fire after two of his worst games of his career and finished with a game-high 24 points. To read more about NAU's win check out Chris Lang's article in the Arizona Daily Sun.

So the table is set once again for the Eagles to earn that automatic NCAA tournament bid, but one thing is different this year. This game is at home, where as games in the past three years have been on the road. Last night's game was about as loud and electric as Reese Court has ever been and the players are noticing it. "It's going to be an incredible (atmosphere)," Alvin Snow said. "(Tuesday night) was great, but I think tomorrow is going to be even better. I can't remember a time when the excitement around campus was this high. It's incredible right now, but within (the team) we just need to stay focused. We need to get done what we need to do."

Tipoff is at 6:05 at Reese Court and the game also can be seen on ESPN 2.

Last chance for Snow and company

The Eastern Eagles have fallen short by one game of an NCAA tournament berth in each of the past three seasons. Senior Alvin Snow knows this all too well as he has played on all three of these teams. Check out more from this article from the Seattle Times.

Ninth meeting in last 3 season bigger than ever for Eagles

The Eastern Eagles and Weber State Wildcats have developed the closest thing
to a heated rivalry in the Big Sky Conference the past three seasons. As Jim
Burton writes in the Standard-Examiner, this semifinal matchup should be one
that won't disappoint.

Eastern set to face Weber in semi's

The Eastern Eagles will have to dethrone the reigning Big Sky Champions once again to make their first ever NCAA tournament. Weber State ended the Sacramento State Hornets' season Saturday with a 68-62 win. In the other matchup Saturday, Idaho State took out Montana 74-73. This means that Weber State as the number five seed is the highest seed remaining in the tournament creating the matchup with Eastern. Northern Arizona, the number two seed will take on Idaho State at 6:05 on Tuesday at Reese Court.

The Eagles have split the season series with the Wildcats, losing recently in overtime in Ogden just over a week ago. EWU has defeated all three other teams remaining at home in the regular season, but the postseason is a different story. The Eagles record in January and February the past three seasons has been remarkable, but in March the Eagles are just over .500.

Tipoff is set for approximately 8:15 p.m. Tuesday.

Dead heat race for President Cup

Eastern Washington University may lead in the academic portion for bringing home the President's Cup, but currently there is a three-way tie with Montana State, Northern Arizona and Weber State. For more information on how the President's Cup winner is determined check out this release from the Big Sky Conference website.

Snow, Eagles honored

The Big Sky All Conference awards were announced today, and senior guard Alvin Snow from Eastern Washington University was given the Most Valuable Player honors. Chosen along with Snow -- who became the first Eagle to ever receive three-straight all-conference awards -- was junior forward Marc Axton, the second time he has been selected, and senior point guard Brendon Merritt. For more on the awards, check out the Big Sky Conference press release.

Forward/center Matt Nelson was named the freshman of the year. Nelson improved his play after entering the starting lineup toward the end of December, and has started every game in conference play.

The Eagles were the only team that had more than two players named to the all-conference team, and only Idaho State, with forward Scott Henry and former Eagle Marquis Poole, had two players named.

Poll shows EWU with best home court advantage

Take a look at the poll done on the Big Sky's Web site. Either Eastern has the best home court advantage, or a lot of Eastern fans participated in the poll.

The Eagles are 9-1 at home and 6-1 in conference play this year. The next best record is Sacramento State, 10-3 overall at home and 5-2 at home in conference play. They host Weber State on Saturday night in the quarterfinals of the Big Sky tournament.

The Eagles hope to maintain the home court edge, with two more home victories to gain their first-ever trip to the NCAA tournament. The Eagles have fallen one game short each of the past three seasons.

Sac State fills final spot for Big Sky Tournament

The Sacramento State Hornets will host the Weber State Wildcats this Saturday thanks to their 80-74 win in Bozeman against Montana State. For more on the Sac State win, check out Sam Amick's article from the Sacramento Bee.

For the complete listing and schedule of all the Big Sky tournament games check out this release from the Big Sky's Web site.