COLLEGE MEN'S BASKETBALL: Cook helps make a winner of Monson in home debut for Eastern
From wire and news services
CHENEY — Andrew Cook scored 25 points as Eastern Washington beat Seattle 93-86 on Wednesday in front of 1,492 at Reese Court in the home debut of head coach Dan Monson.
With the win, EWU improved to 9-7 all-time against the Redhawks.
“The most gratifying thing about today’s win, isn’t that it’s our first team win, that it isn’t my first win, it’s that the team got better today and they won that as a group,” said Monson, who took over for David Riley, who took over the program at Washington State. “You’re going to win a lot of games when you put 93 points on the board. We are still a work in progress, but its a lot easier to learn after a good win like this.”
Mason Williams added 18 points, Sebastian Hartmann 16 andd Emmett Marquardt chipped in with 14. The Eagles shot an impressive 50% from the field and narrowly outrebounded Seattle 30-28.
As a team, EWU only gave up six turnovers to Seattle’s 10.
“We’ll get better defense because this a very coachable group,” said Monson, who previously coached at Gonzaga. “They have start both games dictating the defense, we just have to sustain it.”
EWU went on a 14-0 run to open up the contest, thanks to Marquardt, who had five points during the run.
Seattle quickly responded with a 7-0 run of their own to close the gap. Despite the Redhawks’ effort to fight back, a mid-range jumper from Vice Zanki ended their run, restoring Eastern’s momentum.
Seattle then caught fire with a series of 3-pointers, taking their first lead of the game with 7:50 remaining in the first half. However, Cook answered with a fast-break layup to tie the game at 28.
The Eagles went into halftime with a 40-35 lead, largely due to Williams’ 10 points and solid shooting—51% from the field compared to Seattle’s 41%.
“I thought our bench was a big key this game,” Monson said. “They came and did their job and did it well. I love kids that come out and don’t ask why they are coming out, they went in to help their teammate and they came out to help their teammates.”
Eastern Washington travels to Missouri on Monday at 4 p.m., the Eagles’ second road game their first three games.
E. WASHINGTON 93, SEATTLE 86
SEATTLE (0-1)
Gomma 3-4 1-2 7, Moncreiffe 7-9 6-10 20, Arington 3-7 1-1 8, Christofilis 4-11 5-6 17, Maldonado 2-9 1-1 7, Dawson 5-10 2-2 14, Pandza 3-3 1-2 9, Stevens 1-6 1-2 4, Dan 0-0 0-0 0, Rajkovic 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 28-59 18-26 86.
E. WASHINGTON (1-1)
Marquardt 5-8 2-2 14, Cook 9-13 7-8 25, Hartmann 7-9 0-0 16, McClain 2-4 0-0 5, Williams 5-9 6-7 18, Zanki 3-8 0-1 7, Powell 1-4 0-0 3, Thomas 1-1 1-2 3, Seale 1-2 0-0 2, Winkel 0-0 0-0 0, Stockton 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 34-59 16-20 93.
Halftime_E. Washington 40-35. 3-Point Goals_Seattle 12-22 (Christofilis 4-6, Pandza 2-2, Maldonado 2-5, Dawson 2-6, Arington 1-1, Stevens 1-2), E. Washington 9-22 (Hartmann 2-2, Marquardt 2-4, Williams 2-4, McClain 1-2, Powell 1-3, Zanki 1-4, Cook 0-1, Seale 0-1, Stockton 0-1). Fouled Out_Pandza. Rebounds_Seattle 23 (Moncreiffe 11), E. Washington 27 (Marquardt 6). Assists_Seattle 18 (Arington 7), E. Washington 23 (Hartmann 6). Total Fouls_Seattle 19, E. Washington 20. A_1,492 (6,000).