Eagle men roll in Big Sky openers

CHENEY — The Eastern Washington men’s basketball team certainly made a statement in the opening weekend of their Big Sky Conference schedule winning convincingly in a pair of games.

The Eagles opened play with 91-57 win over Portland State, Dec. 28 and 87-61 over Sacramento State, Dec. 30 at Reese Court improving to 6-7 overall.

“We’ve been working really hard this whole preseason,” EWU head coach David Riley said. “We faced a uniquely challenging schedule to start and put these guys to the fire, got our foundation exposed in every way.”

Ethan Price posted a career-high 25 points, shooting 8-12 from the floor and 4-6 from beyond the arc.

Cedric Coward who hit three-straight 3-pointers to spark a 22-2 run and help the Eagles to a 44-27 halftime lead finished with 19. Casey Jones had 16 and Jake Kyman 13 as other Eagles in double figures.

A 20-2 run by Eastern helped quickly erase a 10-point Portland State early in the first half. That turned the deficit into a 46-27 halftime lead, largely on the strength of Coward’s team leading 21 points.

Dane Erikstrup had a season-high 18 points and 12 apiece coming from Price and LeJuan Watts.

League play will be interrupted this week as Eastern embarks on play against the Big Sky-Summit Challenge. Eastern played at South Dakota, Jan. 3 and host North Dakota State, Jan. 6 at 2 p.m.