Eastern claims first outright 'Sky title since 2004

CHENEY — Eastern Washington made fellow Big Sky Conference coaches look good and the media not so much in the pool of experts.

The Eagles broke away from a 59-all tie near the midpoint of the second half with a 10-0 run and outscored Weber State 19-10 down the stretch Feb. 7 to earn a 78-69 victory and win the outright Big Sky Conference title on Senior Day at Reese Court.

Back in October, conference coaches predicted the Eagles had the necessary horses to battle their way to the title. Eastern closed the conference season with a school-record 16 Big Sky wins and just four losses. Overall the Eagles are 23-8.

Some writers and broadcasters in the poll tabbed Montana and Weber State to finish ahead of Eastern. The Wildcats are the No. 9 seed after finishing conference play at 8-12 and 12-19 overall. Northern Colorado (15-5, 22-9 overall) trailed Eastern by a game and Montana, the two-time defending Big Sky Conference champion is third (14-6, 18-13).

“It feels great to watch the guys celebrate, see their smiles and put on championship shirts and hats,” Eastern head coach Shantay Legans said. “It’s exciting to be dancing in the locker room — it’s a good feeling to see those guys happy like that.” 

Eastern’s big three of senior Mason Peatling, junior Jacob Davison and sophomore Kim Aiken Jr. combined for 56 of EWU’s points, including a double-double of 19 points, 13 rebounds, two steals and two blocked shots by Aiken. Davison scored 24 with eight rebounds and five assists while Peatling had 13 points and five boards, playing much of the second half saddled with four fouls. 

Additionally, junior Jack Perry scored nine points, including a pair of key 3-pointers during Eastern’s second half run. Peatling and Tyler Kidd played in their final regular season games at Reese Court, and were honored in pre-game ceremonies.

“I’ve been a part of a lot of these types of Senior Day games, but this was such a big game to be playing for the outright championship,” Legans said.

Peatling has been on fire during the league season averaging of 18.5 points and 10.4 rebounds.  

“We did a good job of handling the emotion in the first few minutes — we had some air balls early,” Legans said. “Our team did a good job of changing their mindset at halftime and played some good basketball for stretches in the second half.” 

Weber State was shooting just over 50 percent for the game when it was tied at 59. But after that, Eastern held the Wildcats to 23.5 percent (4-of-17) in the final 11 minutes. Eastern out-shot WSU in the game 44 percent to 43 percent, and out-rebounded the Wildcats 41-38. The Eagles are now 15-0 this season when they win the rebounding battle. 

Eastern had already assured itself of its fourth Big Sky regular season title in school history (2000, 2004, 2015), but now joins the 2004 team with the only outright titles.  

Eastern’s postseason fate will be determined starting March 12 when Eastern plays in the quarterfinals of the Big Sky Conference Tournament in Boise, Idaho.

As the regular season champion, Eastern is assured of at least a NIT berth regardless of how they perform at the Big Sky tourney. 

Eastern enters the tournament with a season high seven-game winning streak and has won 13 of its last 15 games in conference play.

The Eagles are 10-6 on the road and 13-2 at home this season, including an 8-2 road mark in league games and 8-2 at home.