Eastern Washington Falls to Georgetown

Eastern Washington came out strong, but Georgetown was just too much in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament.

The Eagles led 24-17 at one point in the first half, and it looked like it could be their night. Tyler Harvey started the game off hot, and he was getting help. Venky Jois got Georgetown center Joshua Smith into early foul trouble, and guys like Parker Kelly, Felix Van Hofe, and Bogdan Bliznyuk were all hitting threes.

Then, Georgetown scored 41 of the next 54 points, as EWU just had no answers on either end. It's oversimplifying to say this, but things seemed to go south for the Eagles after the no-call on this play -

Yeah, umm this is a cheap shot , Jabril. https://t.co/4evuOUfR6F
— Troy Machir (@TroyMachir) March 20, 2015

Even after review, the refs somehow decided this was not worthy of any type of technical foul (a flagrant foul could not have been called because technically it was a dead ball foul). In a sense, EWU literally took a punch, but figuratively couldn't throw one back.

For a stretch at the end of the first half and beginning of the second half, Georgetown seemed like they couldn't miss. The Hoyas drained 11 threes, effectively doing to EWU what the Eagles what they hoped to do to Georgetown. When the Hoyas did miss, they were all over the offensive glass.

The Eagles could have easily given up after the big GTown run, as the score was 65-42 at one point. However, EWU kept battling the rest of the way, making the final score 84-74. A spark was Sir Washington, who surprisingly entered the game and did some good things. More than the box score, he looked like he brought some energy back to the Eagles.

The guy that impressed me the most was Venky Jois, who was all over the floor on both ends. He finished with 19 points, 8 rebounds, and 2 blocks, but even more than that, he gave a full effort at all times. If you only watched him, you wouldn't know the score of the game, and that's a true complement.

Tyler Harvey finished with 27 points, but it was a tough night. He was guarded often by Jabril Trawick (who, by the way, is a very easy guy to not like), and with Trawick's size, Harvey had trouble getting separation for his shot.

In the end, the Eagles finish the season 26-9, and they should have a great chance of playing NCAA Tournament basketball again next year. They lose two seniors (one of them being Drew Brandon, an important guy), but they arguably bring back their three most talented guys (Harvey, Jois, and Bogdan Bliznyuk). It was a great season for the Eagles, and it ended with a night in the Big Dance where they didn't have their best day, but they never stopped fighting.

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Sir Washington Commits to Eastern Washington

Eastern Washington has secured its first commitment for the class of 2013 with the verbal from guard Sir Washington. Washington is a 6'3'' guard from Clark High School in Las Vegas.

Washington is a guard that fill up the stat sheet in a lot of areas. Last year he averaged 14.5 points, five rebounds, and four assists per game. His team took second in the Southwest League to Bishop Gorman, which is known as a national powerhouse, so he played against good competition in high school.

Sir Washington visited Eastern Washington over the weekend, saying the program’s 95-percent graduation rate was most appealing. He also fell in love with Cheney, Wash., where the school is located. He’s even ready for the heavy snow in the winters.

“Everybody knows each other in that town. I feel like I can fit in well there,” he said. “The cold weather won’t bother me. I like the snow.”

Washington also had an offer from Northern Arizona, according to The Las Vegas Sun. He projects as a shooting guard, and could be in the mix for playing time immediately with the graduation of Jeff Forbes, Collin Chiverton, and Kevin Winford.

Premier Ball has this to say about him:

Sir Washington stroke is bueatiful from 21-22' when he's engaged good things will happen. Low-mid major prospect that will only get better.
— POP (@PremierBall) September 26, 2012

Jim Hayford's recruiting class is off to a good start.

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