CHENEY, Wash. – Eastern Washington cruised to its eighth straight win in dominant fashion Saturday afternoon, overwhelming Northern Arizona 88–57. Alton Hamilton IV paced the Eagles with 23 points and seven rebounds, while Jojo Anderson added 11 and Isaiah Moses and Johnny Radford chipped in 10 apiece. Tyler Powell contributed three steals on the defensive end and Emmett Marquardt anchored the paint with two blocks as Eastern controlled both ends throughout. Straton Rogers collected four rebounds, put him over 900 rebounds in his career.
As a team, the Eagles shot a blistering 64 percent from the field and 50 percent from three, compared to 45 percent shooting for the Lumberjacks. Eastern forced 17 turnovers while committing just 11, outrebounded NAU 34–30, and dominated inside with 46 points in the paint. “We were very efficient offensively, 21 assists, 64 percent from the field, 50 from three,” associate head coach Ryan Lundgren said. “But our offense was mainly dictated by how good we were defensively. We were able to get out and run, had 14 points in transition and 46 in the paint. A lot of that came from getting stops and creating turnovers.”
Eastern Washington stormed out of the gates with a commanding first half, building a 45–25 lead behind relentless defense and efficient scoring. The Eagles opened on a 10–3 run fueled by steals from Moses and Powell that led directly to transition baskets, including a Moses fast-break layup and three-pointer. Eastern continued to stretch the margin with balanced offense as Kiree Huie finished inside off turnovers and Moses knocked down another triple to push the lead to double digits just four minutes in…