Eagles struggle in second half, fall to Northern Arizona

CHENEY — Eastern Washington (6-14, 2-5) lost to Northern Arizona (12-8, 3-4) in a hard-fought battle, falling 70-61 at home.

"They came out swinging, and we didn't respond," said head coach Dan Monson. "We were on our heels to start the second half, and it took us 12 minutes to recover. We tried to get aggressive late, but we started doing things that don't win you games."

Mason Williams led the Eagles with 18 points, while Andrew Cook and Sebastian Hartmann also finished in double figures. Emmett Marquardt and Cook each grabbed five rebounds, and Nic McClain dished out five assists.

"The fouling at the end was unintentional, but we panicked," Monson continued. "Playing hard is one thing, but you have to be smart when you're playing hard. We made too many mental mistakes today."

As a team, Eastern struggled on the boards, being outrebounded 40-26, and shot 42.6% from the field compared to Northern Arizona's 40%. The Eagles also struggled with fouls, committing 22 to the Lumberjacks' 16.

First Half:

The game started with Northern Arizona hitting a three-pointer, but Hartmann quickly answered with a turnaround jumper for Eastern. Marquardt followed with a corner three, and McClain added a layup to tie things up at 7.

After the first media timeout, Cook found Pavlo Dziuba for a dunk, giving the Eagles an early boost. At the 8-minute mark, Eastern went on a 7-0 run, capped by a three-pointer from Hartmann. However, Northern Arizona responded with back-to-back threes to reclaim a one-point lead at 5:05.

Heading into the final media timeout, Hartmann hit two free throws, and Vice Zanki added a tip-in, putting Eastern ahead 27-24. After the break, Tyler Powell drilled a deep three to extend the Eagles' lead. Cook then drove to the basket for a tough bucket with 1:24 left. Eastern led 33-30 at halftime, shooting 52% from the field and dominating inside, scoring 14 of their 33 points in the paint.

Second Half:

NAU got off to a hot start regaining the lead before Marquardt tied it back up with a layup of his own. NAU kept their foot on the pedal heading into the first media timeout of the second half, up 46-37.

Northern Arizona extended their lead to double digits after forcing the Eagles to turn it over a few times. Mason Williams got Eastern fired up converting on a three-point play after a layup and a free throw then followed with a three form the top of the arc, cutting the lead to nine.

Northern Arizona extended their lead to 12 with 3:24 to play. Off an inbound pass from Williams, Cook hit a step back then Williams knocked down a corner three, cutting the Lumberjack lead down to seven. Williams took the game into his own hands, converting on two free throws then a three-ball to bring Eastern within four. Ultimately, NAU defeated Eastern 70-61.