Block party for Eagles in victory
CHENEY — Collin Chiverton scored 20 points, Jeffrey Forbes hit a big shot to reach a career milestone, and Eastern Washington held off BracketBusters foe Sam Houston State 81-76 on Saturday afternoon.
The Eagles (9-18) set a Big Sky Conference record with 16 blocked shots, eight by Martin Seiferth.
“I thought our guys were playing a very athletic team, but we kept enough poise to finish it out,” Eastern coach Jim Hayford said. “I am really proud of them. Obviously, (it helps) when you block 16 shots. We knew we had a height advantage, and they maybe had a quickness advantage. We knew it (the height advantage) would show up somewhere.”
Chiverton was 7 of 10 from the floor, including three 3-pointers. Forbes had 11 points, including a 3-pointer with 2:38 left that made him the 16th EWU player to reach 1,000 career points.
Parker Kelly added 17 points for the Eagles, and Venky Jois had 11 points, eight rebounds and six assists.
“To block 16 shots in one game — I have never seen anything like that in my life,” Hayford said. “For us to shoot 61 percent from the field shows how we are really improving. Our theme today was great effort, great execution and great efficiency. When you look at us offensively, you see all three of those things.”
Forbes’ milestone 3-pointer gave Eastern Washington what seemed a comfortable 73-64 lead with 2:38 left. But the Bearkats (14-13) rallied, pulling within 76-74 on James Thomas’ layup with 34 seconds to play. Chiverton and Kelly hit two free throws apiece to secure the victory.
Paul Baxter scored 19 points for the Bearkats.
Eastern Washington returns to Big Sky Conference action when the Eagles host Northern Colorado on Thursday.
SAM HOUSTON ST. (14-13)
Thomas 5-17 2-2 12, Bond 2-8 0-0 4, Holyfield 1-3 0-0 2, Gatson 2-2 0-0 6, Baxter 7-16 3-4 19, McKinney 2-9 4-6 10, Harwell 0-3 2-2 2, McKay 2-6 0-0 5, Motley 2-11 4-6 8, Mason 3-3 2-2 8. Totals 26-78 17-22 76.
E. WASHINGTON (9-18)
Reuter 2-3 2-2 7, Jois 3-3 5-9 11, Seiferth 1-2 3-4 5, Harvey 3-8 0-2 7, Forbes 2-5 5-5 11, Hill 1-1 1-1 3, Kelly 4-6 6-6 17, Jorg 0-0 0-0 0, Chiverton 7-10 3-4 20, Hickert 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 23-38 25-33 81.
Halftime_E. Washington 41-25. 3-Point Goals_Sam Houston St. 7-23 (Gatson 2-2, Baxter 2-5, McKinney 2-7, McKay 1-5, Bond 0-4), E. Washington 10-18 (Kelly 3-4, Chiverton 3-5, Forbes 2-5, Reuter 1-1, Harvey 1-3). Fouled Out_Jois, Motley. Rebounds_Sam Houston St. 45 (Baxter, Motley, Thomas 7), E. Washington 29 (Harvey, Jois 8). Assists_Sam Houston St. 16 (Gatson 6), E. Washington 16 (Jois 6). Total Fouls_Sam Houston St. 24, E. Washington 18. A_1,023.