Boston University
2-2
Eastern Washington
3-1
Eastern Washington Defeats Men's Basketball, 80-68
November 22, 2013 | Men's Basketball
Nov. 22, 2013
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IRVINE, Calif. - In the first of three games at the 2K Sports Classic benefiting Wounded Warriors Project on the campus of UC Irvine, the Boston University men's basketball team dropped an 80-68 decision to Eastern Washington on Friday evening.
Led by sophomore Nathan Dieudonne's first career double-double, the Terriers drop to 2-2, while the Eagles of the Big Sky Conference improve to 3-1 after winning the first-ever meeting between the two programs.
Dieudonne had a career night with a personal-best 16 points and game-high 12 rebounds. Classmate Maurice Watson Jr. finished with a team-high 18 points and six assists, while senior Travis Robinson had 10 points. BU finished 24-of-63 (.381) from the field and was out-rebounded, 43-31.
Shooting 54.4 percent from the field and hitting 10 3-pointers in the game, the Eagles featured four men in double figures. Tyler Harvey had 21 points, while Venky Jois had 20 points and eight rebounds. Drew Brandon nearly had a triple-double with 15 points, 12 boards and seven assists. Ognjen Miljkovic contributed 14 of EWU's 17 bench points.
Ahead 44-42 with 17:15 remaining in regulation, EWU reeled off eight straight points and never saw its lead cut below seven rest of the game. The Eagles had eight more turnovers than BU at 16-8 but both teams finished with 15 points off turnovers.
Besides winning the battle at the boards, EWU used its size and length to post a 34-22 advantage in points in the paint.
Sophomore John Papale opened the game with a 3-pointer and was followed by senior D.J. Irving's layup. The Eagles responded with five straight points and tied the game a fourth time at 13-13 with 14:17 left in the half.
Junior Malik Thomas and Robinson then hit back-to-back treys to push BU's lead to six points, and Irving's 28-foot bomb at 9:31 gave the Terriers their largest lead of the game, 24-17.
Trailing 30-24 with 6:10 remaining, the Eagles finished the first half on a 15-4 run to pull ahead 39-34. The Terriers opened the second with two straight baskets by senior Dom Morris and Dieudonne behind two EWU turnovers.
Watson created a third turnover with a steal and went straight to the hoop for what would have been a lead-changing fastbreak layup. However, Watson was called with an offensive foul for using his arm improperly to fend off a defender while jumping up.
The Eagles took advantage with Vois hitting a jumper and 3-pointer to push EWU's lead back to six points. Watson kept BU close with back-to-back short jumpers, but then EWU went on the 8-0 spurt capped by Miljkovic's trey at 14:50.
Down 57-49 with 11:03 remaining after Papale hit a jumper, the Eagles used up a minute of time after grabbing two offensive rebounds and then driving to the hoop for the score.
Robinson responded with a 3-pointer, but a costly foul from BU put EWU's Parker Kelly at the charity stripe for three free throw attempts. Kelly made all of them, and the Terriers were never able to mount a rally after those series of events.
BU will continue the 2K Sports Classic with Big West preseason favorite UC Irvine on Saturday (Nov. 23) at 8:30 p.m. ET.
