Another one-and-done: Top-seeded EWU men lose first Big Sky tourney game to Sacramento State 74-69

BOISE – Once is traumatic, twice is … a trend?

Pump the brakes on that thought if you must, but certainly the Eastern Washington Eagles are redefining the parameters of postseason basketball heartbreak.

Last year it was a buzzer-beating punch to the gut from the Big Sky Conference Tournament’s ninth seed that took down the Eagles well short of their NCAA Tournament grail. On Sunday night, they did that one better – worse? – in losing to last-place Sacramento State 74-69 at Idaho Central Arena.

Two years running, the regular-season champions have failed to make it past the quarterfinals and snag the Big Sky’s automatic berth, and this year there’s no NIT consolation prize guaranteed with their 21-11 record.

But EWU coach David Riley wasn’t going to compare the depths of disappointment his team had to experience again.

“It’s a different season,” he insisted. “The feeling in the locker room, honestly, is that there’s a lot of love in there. This has been an incredible year with these guys and I don’t think one game should define the season we had.

“It just sucks that it had to end this way at such an important time.”

As against Northern Arizona a year ago, the Eagles spent a good hunk of the game in pursuit mode in the wake of Sac’s quick start. But in that 2023 upset, Eastern actually forged a six-point lead inside the final minute.

This time, other than 90 seconds early in the second half, the Eagles never led.

And it’s not as if the Hornets – who won their 10th game against 23 losses – didn’t hold the door open a little.

In one notable stretch, up 54-49, Sacramento State had five straight empty possessions – yet still held a 56-52 edge after a couple Austin Patterson free throws. That speaks to a defensive effort that held Eastern to 40 percent shooting and just 6-of-26 from 3-point range, forced 15 turnovers and forged a 34-27 edge on the glass.

“You can’t give them the same look every time you play,” said Hornets coach David Patrick, whose team lost an 81-78 decision at home to EWU just a week ago, “because they do a phenomenal job of exposing where you’re switching from or doubling from. So you try to mix it up a lot.

“It’s hard to stop (Cedric) Coward and (Casey) Jones in the post, but our guys battled with some physicality and limited them to one shot. And the other part was defending the 3.”

As usual, upper classmen Akol Mawein (17 points) and Zee Hamoda (19) carried a Sacramento State rotation that sees four freshmen log heavy minutes. It was a ferocious dunk by Mawein and a nervy 3 by Hamoda, that restored the lead to five points after Eastern had inched to within two with 4:35 left.

It was back down to three in the final 40 seconds, until Jones clobbered Bailey Nunn to the floor as Eastern pressed. Then Ethan Price and Coward both came up short on 3s, and the Hornets cleaned up at the foul line.

In the end, only Coward (22 points) was a reliable producer. Price had 11 but was often unassertive, and Jones got 10 of his 14 from the foul line. Meanwhile, the EWU guards were invisible, with sharpshooter Jake Kyman going 1 for 10.

“In tournament games, teams that play to their identity win,” said Riley, who noted Eastern’s low assist total and not “playing inside out” with too few touches in the paint.

“Quite frankly, I’ve got to do a better job of putting guys in a position to win,” he said. “We beat (Sacramento State) twice and I probably needed to make different adjustments and anticipate a few things. I want everyone to know – and our players to know – they did everything asked of them. It’s up to us to put them in a better situation.”

Last year, NAU used its upset as a runway to the tournament final. The Hornets will take similar aim – with a nod to the Eagles.

“When I took over,” said Patrick, who’s in his second season, “I saw they’re the team I need to beat in this league. When I try to put a roster together, it’s how do you beat Eastern, how do you compete with Montana and Weber State?

“Now our guys man for man believe they’re as good as anybody in the league and they showed it tonight.”

In another second-round game Sunday, eighth-seeded Idaho State upset No. 2 seed Northern Colorado 83-76.