N. Colorado denies EWU third straight win

| February 18, 2010 11:00 PM

GREELEY, Colo. (AP) - Chris Kaba sank a 3-pointer with 23 seconds left and Will Figures scored 23 points as Northern Colorado edged Eastern Washington 58-54 Thursday night.

Kaba, who was subbing for the Bears' injured second-leading scorer, Devon Beitzel, had 14 points and made all three of his 3-pointers in the second half. Mike Proctor added 11 points for Northern Colorado (21-6, 10-4 Big Sky).

Beitzel broke his left ankle in the team's last game. Northern Colorado avoided its first two-game losing streak of the year.

Jeffrey Forbes led Eastern Washington (8-19, 4-9) with 15 points. The Eagles had 17 turnovers and were denied a season-high three-game winning streak.

EWU plays at Northern Arizona on Saturday.

E. WASHINGTON (8-19)

Dunn 1-6 0-0 3, Moore 2-3 2-2 6, Dean 2-9 2-2 8, Forbes 5-12 2-2 15, Winford 1-1 0-0 3, Valentine 2-6 0-0 6, Gibson 0-1 0-0 0, Griffin 3-3 1-2 7, Brunell 2-3 0-0 6. Totals 18-44 7-8 54.

N. COLORADO (21-6)

Kaba 4-8 3-3 14, Kingman 1-7 4-4 6, Proctor 4-7 3-4 11, Figures 6-11 7-8 23, Bonner 0-2 0-0 0, Lloyd 0-4 1-2 1, Brereton 0-0 0-0 0, Arnold 0-0 0-0 0, Osborne 0-2 0-0 0, Montgomery 0-3 3-7 3. Totals 15-44 21-28 58.

Halftime-N. Colorado 26-24. 3-Point Goals-E. Washington 11-24 (Forbes 3-8, Brunell 2-3, Dean 2-4, Valentine 2-5, Winford 1-1, Dunn 1-3), N. Colorado 7-18 (Figures 4-6, Kaba 3-5, Bonner 0-1, Lloyd 0-3, Kingman 0-3). Fouled Out-None. Rebounds-E. Washington 29 (Griffin 6), N. Colorado 30 (Kaba 8). Assists-E. Washington 15 (Dean 6), N. Colorado 8 (Figures 3). Total Fouls-E. Washington 22, N. Colorado 16. A-1,572.