Sports

Hamilton's heroics hand Eagles loss
Wildcats' senior scores 31, including game-winner with 3.6 seconds remaining

Zack Van Eyck
Special to The Spokesman-Review

OGDEN, Utah _ Eastern Washington coach Ray Giacoletti wanted a passionate, determined performance Thursday night from the team he hopes to take to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in school history.

The Eagles (15-11, 11-2), who had already clinched the Big Sky Conference's regular-season title, gave that to him at the Dee Events Center.

Unfortunately, the team also got saddled with a loss -- its first since Jan. 8 -- in a wild, offensive free-for-all against Weber State (13-13, 6-7).

In a game that featured three 3-point field goals in the final 22 seconds of overtime, including the game-winner by Weber State's John Hamilton with 3.6 seconds left, the Wildcats kept their conference tournament hopes alive with an 81-78 victory before a crowd of 4,113.

"This was a great college basketball game. It was as good a college basketball game as we've had all year," Giacoletti said after his team's 11-game winning streak and seven-game road winning streak ended. "We've got to do a better job. The (opposing) team can't shoot 67 percent, but that's a credit to Weber State being able to do that. And then John Hamilton just absolutely wills them to win."

Hamilton, a senior who was averaging 11.8 points per game, hit 8 of 11 3-point attempts and scored a career-high 31 points in the win.

And he saved his best for last.

He nailed a 3-pointer with 22 seconds left in overtime to give the Wildcats a 78-75 lead. EWU's Alvin Snow, who had a team-high 23 points, answered with one of his own to tie it with 11 seconds left. Then Hamilton came right back, hitting a 3-pointer from NBA range to win it. Snow's 3-pointer at the buzzer missed its mark.

"I mean, he was just on fire. He carried them," said guard Brendon Merritt, one of four Eagles in double figures with 16 points. "It's definitely a wake-up call. We could have gone without the loss, but I hope we can take this and turn it into something good, make it positive."

Snow led the Eagles in scoring with 23 points. Nic Sparrow added 18 for Weber State and center Lance Allred, a Utah transfer, added 17.

The Eagles now move on to Idaho State for a 6:05 p.m. game Saturday.

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