Weber State surges to end 1st half, defeats Eastern Washington 90-84 for 7th straight win
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- Weber State guard Koby McEwen (15) drives against Eastern Washington’s Ellis Magnuson (55) on Monday, Jan. 31, 2022, at the Dee Events Center in Ogden.
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- Weber State forward Dillon Jones, left, scores at the rim against Eastern Washington’s Rylan Bergersen, right, on Monday, Jan. 31, 2022, at the Dee Events Center in Ogden.
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- Weber State guard Seikou Sisoho Jawara (5) drives the paint against Eastern Washington’s Ethan Price, left, on Monday, Jan. 31, 2022, at the Dee Events Center in Ogden.
OGDEN — Weber State men’s basketball team’s tour of four cities in eight days made its final stop Monday when the Wildcats hosted Eastern Washington.
For about 12 minutes, it seemed the visiting Eagles had the legs and the shooting stroke to put the Wildcats on upset notice, but Weber State closed the first half on a big run and took control.
WSU defeated EWU 90-84 at the Dee Events Center, giving the Wildcats seven straight wins and a first-place, 10-1 mark in Big Sky Conference play.
“This was just one we had to find a way and grind it out, and our guys did that,” WSU head coach Randy Rahe said.
Koby McEwen scored 24 points to lead Weber State (17-5, 10-1 Big Sky) on a 4-of-7 shooting mark, drawing 10 fouls and shooting 14 of 16 from the foul line. With WSU trailing 23-17, he sped to a transition dunk, made a pair of free throws and swished a 3-pointer to put the Wildcats up 29-25 with 6:52 left in the first half.
Down the stretch, he hit another 3-pointer before Dillon Jones sealed the run on both ends of the court. Jones grabbed 10 rebounds in the first half; his penultimate led to him drawing a foul and cashing in his free throws, and his final board of the half led to Jones dishing baseline to a cutting Dontay Bassett for a vicious dunk to close the frame.
That put WSU up 46-35 at halftime.
Eastern Washington starts five players 6-foot-6 or taller, and Linton Acliese III was the man of the night for the Eagles, scoring almost perfectly on mismatches in the post. Back in the game after foul trouble, he scored 11 points in the first eight minutes of the second half — four post-ups and a corner 3-pointer — to make it 60-54.
Acliese eventually reached 9-of-9 shooting on 2-pointers (he scored a team-high 21 for Eastern) before getting blocked by Bassett late, and eventually fouled out after relentless McEwen drives.
“They have size, but they’re not going to beat us off scoring 2s all game,” McEwen said. “They can throw it in there all they want and get touches in there, but as long as we stay disciplined and make them shoot over us, tough contested 2s, that’s not going to beat us.”
Weber State regained control when JJ Overton, who seemingly scored at will on drives to the hoop all game, scored at the rim on three straight possessions. Then Bassett ripped the cords on a trailing 3-pointer to cap a 10-2 run that put WSU up 72-58 with 7:30 left.
Acliese kept EWU afloat until Rylan Bergersen hit a pair of late 3-pointers and Angelo Allegri dunked off a steal to briefly make it 84-79.
But McEwen shot 9 of 10 from the foul line in the final 1:36 to seal it.
“I liked our stick-to-it-iveness. Bad plays happened, we didn’t put our heads down. We just kept coming,” Rahe said.
Overton and Seikou Sisoho Jawara boosted McEwen’s 24-point night by each netting 20 points. Those three combined to shoot 21 of 32 from the floor and Overton was plus-30 in the plus-minus ledger.
Bassett added 13 points, four rebounds, two assists and two blocks. Jones totaled nine points, 16 rebounds, four assists and four steals. WSU totaled 10 steals and scored 32 fastbreak points.
Bergersen’s late 3s helped him to 17 points for EWU (11-11, 5-6) and Allegri totaled 14 points and 10 rebounds. Steele Venters, possibly Eastern’s best shooting, had 11 points and five assists, but shot 4 of 15 from the field.
With that stretch behind them, more challenges remain. Weber State next hosts Montana and Montana State, both in second place with two conference losses, on Thursday and Saturday.
Players said they don’t feel much different despite the unusually tight schedule, and McEwen explained that the coaching staff does a good job “dumbing down” practice so players get the scouting work in without tiring their legs.
Rahe said Tuesday would be light as far as official practice goes, but the players want to keep playing.
“We’re just hungry to win this league,” Sisoho Jawara said. “I don’t feel tired … tomorrow, we’re going to be here shooting in the morning. That’s how it works, that’s how championship teams work.”