Oregon uses late run to slip by EWU

EUGENE, Ore. - Eastern Washington has picked up a rare win against a Pac-12 Conference opponent only 12 times in 85 tries in school history. Eagles head coach Jim Hayford nearly won in his first try.

Eastern led much of the way - including holding a nine-point lead in the second half - but Oregon rallied in the final 11 minutes to surge past the Eagles 73-65 on Thursday.

"We could have won this basketball game - it was ours for the taking and we gave it back to them," Hayford said. "I don't want to show any disrespect to Oregon -they are a well-coached team - but we gave a win back, and that is not going to happen. We are going to get tougher, we are going to get more basketball smart and we are not going to give away opportunities like this in the future."

Playing its third game in seven nights, three Eagle big men fouled out early in the second half during a stretch in which EWU led for nearly 25 minutes. Eastern is now 1-2, having picked up a 70-61 victory over South Dakota on Nov. 15 after suffering a respectable 77-69 loss to 23rd-ranked Gonzaga on Nov. 11. Oregon is now 1-1.

Since taking a 20-19 lead midway through the first half, Eastern led for nearly 25 minutes before Oregon took a 60-58 advantage lead with 5:37 to play. The Eagles went 7:42 without a field goal down the stretch, turning a 56-53 lead into a 69-61 deficit in that span.

"You have to make free throws and you have to be able to score baskets to win on the road, and we didn't make many baskets in the second half," Hayford said.

Eastern Washington plays at Hawaii on Tuesday.

No box score was available.