The Vandal men picked up their first conference win of the season in the Idaho-Eastern Washington double header, taking down the Eagles 74-71.
Idaho (4-10, BSC 1-2) found its stride against the Eagles, fueled by sharp shooting across the board. The Vandals finished its first win shooting at least 50 percent across the board, hitting 50 percent (24-48) from the floor, 52.3 percent (10-19) from beyond the arc and 76.2 percent (16-21) from the line.
Eastern Washington (3-11, BSC 1-2) came out swinging to start the contest, jumping out to a 10-4 lead a handful of minutes in.
After several minutes without a point from either side, Idaho sophomore guard Chance Garvin contributed five of his career-high 11 points of the night to cut the Eagle lead down to 13-9.
Idaho quickly turned the tide, claiming the lead at 18-16 with over 11 minutes to play in the first half. The Vandals continued to build, outscoring the competition 17-0 over the next seven minutes, including a perfect 4-0 from deep from four Vandal athletes.
Idaho held onto its speed, heading into the break with a 20-point advantage.
Eastern Washington came out of the half fighting, slowly cutting away at Idaho’s 20-plus point advantage. The Eagles came within reach of reclaiming the game and snatching the win out from Idaho in Cowan Spectrum. EWU’s Mason Peatling missed a game-tying 3-point shot with five seconds to play, sealing the Vandals 74-71 win.
Junior guard Trevon Allen led the team in scoring with 25 points in 38 minutes of play. Freshman guard Cameron Tyson finished with 10 points to give him 201 on the season. He is only the 10th Vandal to score over 200 points as a freshman. Freshman Jared Rodriguez contributed six points and a game-high seven rebounds for the Vandals.
Garvin’s career-high 11 points contributed to boost off the bench, outscoring the opposing bench 33-16.
Idaho will hit the road Saturday for its first road contest of conference play at Northern Colorado.
The Vandals lead the Bears in the all-time series 4-2, but lost both matchups last season. Northern Colorado (8-5, BSC 2-0) was selected third in both coaches and media preseason poll. The Bears also return Preseason All-Conference pick senior guard Jordan Davis.
Tipoff against Northern Colorado is set for 3 p.m. in Greeley, Colorado.
Meredith Spelbring can be reached at [email protected]