Volume 103, Issue 11
www.TheEasterner.org
January 9, 2020
THE INDEPENDENT, STUDENTRUN NEWSPAPER OF
EASTERN WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY
GRIZ COME TO TOWN ON FIRST THURSDAY
Baiey Monteith for The Easterner
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Update on women’s basketball team EWU in swing of Big Sky Conference play looking to turn a tough start around. EWU has won just two of its first 12 games.
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Ellis Magnuson steps into important role
EWU’s true freshman point guard impresses teammates and coaching staff with his passing ability and strong work ethic. Magnuson leads the Big Sky Conference in assists per game. Page 3
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Women’s hoops off to a tough 2019-20 start RANDLE KINSWA Sports Reporter The EWU women’s basketball team (1-2, 2-10) has had a rough start to their 2019-20 campaign. The first nine games of the season were all non-league games. EWU lost eight of those nine. EWU lost to Stanford, San Jose State, Utah, Gonzaga, Pepperdine, Boise State, Kansas City and Bradley. EWU’s lone nonconference win came over Northwest Christian University 81-62 on Dec. 8. On Dec. 28, EWU hosted the Weber State Wildcats in each team’s first Big Sky Conference showdown. EWU won 63-53. EWU head coach Wendy Schuller said she was glad the way the team played overall. “I thought we battled,” Schuller said. “It was a game that got a little bit ugly and a little bit physical at times. … I was proud of these guys for stepping up and playing hard and smart.”
Schuller said it was really important to win the first conference game. Schuller also said the tough non-conference schedule didn’t go the way the team wanted it to go at certain times, but it prepared the team for the rest of the season. Sophomore guard Jessica McDowell-White led the team with 19 points, which tied her career-high, while also adding four rebounds and three assists. McDowell-White said after the game that the first conference win is huge going forward. “Coming off a tough nonconference schedule this win means a lot,” McDowell-White said. “This is good for confidence for the rest of the season.” McDowell-White credited her teammates for finding her open, to help her tie her career-high 19 points. McDowell-White said getting a win at Reese Court meant more, as EWU got a win in front of the fans and supporters. EWU had eight blocks and 11 steals, forcing 17 Weber turnovers.
Schuller said the team did a really nice job defensively. “We mixed things up a little bit (defensively),” Schuller said. “The team adjusted when we made adjustments.” Sophomore guard Grace Kirscher added 16 points and seven rebounds in the win against Weber. Sophomore center Bella Cravens added nine points with a team-high 12 rebounds. EWU shot 37.5% as a team, committed 16 turnovers and scored 22 points in the paint. On Dec. 30 EWU played against the Idaho State Bengals and fell 67-47. Schuller said after the game that Idaho State came out ready to play, adding that misses near the basket didn’t help EWU’s cause. “Idaho State came out with a lot of focus and determination,” Schuller said. “We missed 10 shots within four feet of the basket. … you can’t do that against a team like this.” Schuller said the team was not very strong and didn’t respond well.
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Mckenzie Ford for The Easterner
EWU notches just one victory in brutal nonconference stretch
EWU sophomore guard Grace Kirscher attempts to drive to the hoop. Kirscher scored a game-high 22 points on Jan. 4. Schuller said the first half was brutal. “They play hard and execute,” Schuller said. “I didn’t think we matched their intensity level for a quite a while… they just kicked our tails on the glass in the first half.” Freshman forward Alexyss Newman led EWU with a career-high 14 points. Newman also had five rebounds. Schuller said she liked how Newman didn’t back down. Schuller also said Newman has a lot of tools and weapons, and will be a special player for the team. Cravens added nine points and five rebounds in the loss to Idaho State. Kirscher had seven points and four rebounds. EWU was out rebounded 41-27. The team shot just 29.6% from the field, including just 25% from behind the arc. On Jan. 4, EWU traveled down to Oregon to play the Portland State Vikings. EWU last saw the
Vikings in 2019 in the Big Sky Championship, where EWU lost a barnburner, 61-59. EWU lost to the Vikings this time around as well, 75-58. Kirscher led the team with 22 points, which was the game high for either side. Newman added 13 points and 11 boards. EWU out-rebounded PSU 4644, and committed just eight turnovers. The difference in the game was EWU shot just 28.9% to PSU’s 42.4%. EWU is currently ninth in the BSC. EWU is 2-3 at Reese Court, and 0-7 on the road this season. EWU is last in the BSC in scoring offense, averaging just 54.1 points per game. EWU also has the worst free-throw and field-goal percentage, as well as the third-to-worst three point percentage in the BSC. EWU is seventh in the BSC in overall defense, as well as fourth in blocked shots, and eighth in steals. Cravens leads the Big Sky in rebounds per game with 8.6. McDowell-White is fourth in the Big Sky with 4.4 assists per game. EWU will travel and take on the University of Montana (3-1, 8-5) on Jan. 9. UM is second in the BSC. •
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Magnuson puts in the work and dishes the rock
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EWU point guard Ellis Magnuson moves up the court and calls out a play to his teammates. A true freshman, he takes a pick from senior Mason Peatling and dribbles to the right of the free throw line, drawing defenders to the right before whipping a pass across his body to freshman Casson Rouse, who is wide open for an easy three-point attempt from the left side. This is a sequence that has happened more than once in Magnuson’s short EWU career. That court vision is a large reason why the Boise native leads the Big Sky Conference in assists (5.9 per game) and assist-toturnover ratio (2.8). His eleven assists against Portland Bible College on Nov. 5 is tied with Portland State’s Holland Woods for the most in a game in the conference. “I’ve always been truly a pass-first point guard,” Magnuson said. “That’s all part of being a point guard: getting other people the ball, getting other people shots.” Peatling said Magnuson’s passing ability has given the offense a look it hasn’t always had in his time at EWU. “He’s been able to get me, Kim (Aiken) and Jacob (Davison) good looks,” Peatling said. “We have multiple guys scoring in double figures. You don’t have that if you don’t have a pass-first point guard. You can see it in the play of other players.” EWU head coach said Shantay Legans it’s been a long time since he’s seen someone with the passing ability of Magnuson. It’s a skill that Magnuson credits in part to his work with his AAU coach growing up, Roberto Bergersen. Bergersen said in a phone call from Boise that he encouraged Magnuson and all the players he coaches to be aggressive with their passing. It’s resulted in Magnuson making passes at the high school and college level that are above his pay grade. “You always hear dads on the sideline saying, ‘slow it down, don’t make that pass,’” Bergersen said. “It’s just the opposite for me. We want them to be more aggressive. … Ellis, because of his innate ability, was able to pick up on some of those things early. It got to the point where by the time he was in (high school), he would make passes that he shouldn’t be trying to make, and they’d go through.” Magnuson played for Bergersen’s Hoop Dreams from third grade through high school. Magnuson cited Bergersen as one of his biggest influences growing up. “He’s been a great inspiration for me,” Magnuson said. “He’s always pushed me. He’s always been there for me, whether it’s basketball or not basketball-related. He’s been like a brother to me.” Bergersen also said he’s very close with Magnuson, saying he’s like a son or little brother to him. Magnuson is close with Bergersen’s sons, and Bergersen said Magnuson is practically family. “We’ve developed a relationship where we can kind of tell each other when we don’t like what the other is doing,” Bergersen said. “We also give each other the type of unconditional love that you would give a family member.” While Magnuson said Bergersen and his parents were huge influences in his life, he was initially hesitant to say he had any huge inspirations, as he prefers to pave his own path. “I feel like I want to create a name for myself,”
Mckenzie Ford for The Easterner
DREW LAWSON Sports Editor
EWU freshman point guard Ellis Magnuson directs traffic in EWU’s 98-82 victory over North Dakota on Dec. 8. Magnuson leads the Big Sky Conference in assists per game this season. Magnuson said. “(I’m) trying to be myself and … be an inspiration for other people.” Magnuson played basketball and football at Borah High School in Boise. He was successful in both sports, winning the USA Today Idaho 5A Player of the Year in basketball his senior year and earning first team AllState honors as a wide receiver in football. Magnuson received walk-on offers to play football at Washington State, Boise State, Weber State and several others. However, only one school offered him a full-ride scholarship, and that was to play basketball. “Eastern reached out to me. They were on me for a while and they finally offered me,” Magnuson said. “That was kind of a no-brainer for me at that point.” EWU head coach Shantay Legans knew about Magnuson early in his high school career, and assistant coach Bobby Suarez was key in scouting and recruiting him. “(Suarez) did a great job with (recruiting) him,” Legans said. “He stayed on him, and stayed on him, and lucky he did, because he’s a very good player.” Legans said Magnuson’s days as a football player aid him on the basketball court, giving him toughness. “He could be hurt, he could be sick, he could be perfectly fine, and you’d never know,” Legans said. “He’s a different cat.” Off the court, Magnuson loves the outdoors, fishing and other animals (he has a pet alligator back in Boise). However, there’s not much time off the court. Magnuson is obsessed with basketball. Several players and staff around the team have said he
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practically lives in the gym. “He loves basketball,” Legans said. “He wants to be great. When you want to be great, you always work hard.” Legans said that hard work has earned Magnuson the respect of older players. Peatling said he feels that Magnuson’s work ethic is setting him up for a very successful college career. “Usually when guys have work ethic, you’re not sure if it’s going to come right away or click on all cylinders,” Peatling said. “As an older player I know he’s going to be right for the long haul.” That work ethic has always been there, according to Bergersen. “I can remember when he was 8 years old (and) not very good at basketball,” Bergersen said. “But he was a sponge. He would just do it and do it and do it until he got it right. Then he would go home. He had a little hoop outside his house, and he would shoot there all night.” Bergersen said in high school Magnuson would often jog or run from football practice directly to AAU practice without missing a beat. If Bergersen called for a surprise practice or workout, Magnuson was always there to be counted on. “There’s nothing that was going to trump getting the work in,” Bergersen said. For Magnuson, hard work is the only way to get better. “I don’t know what other way to put it,” Magnuson said. “No matter how good you are now, if you put in the hours, you’re going to end up passing people up. You just have to work harder than everyone else.”•
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Bailey Monteith for The Easterner
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EWU forward Mason Peatling lays the ball in during EWU’s 78-71 victory over Montana on Jan. 9, 2019. UM returns to Reese Court for a big game Thursday.
Eags take on Griz in important Reese Court showdown DREW LAWSON Sports Editor
EWU fans would rather forget what has happened the past two years in the Big Sky Conference Championship: a first-half lead melts away as the Eagles’ hopes of advancing to the NCAA Tournament are crushed by the rival Montana Grizzlies. This Thursday, EWU seeks revenge. “We already have a rivalry with Montana,” EWU junior guard Jacob Davison said. “We don’t really like each other. Losing to them back-to-back years (is) in the back of your mind.” The winner of Thursday’s game will be at least tied for first place in the BSC. EWU has started off BSC play 2-1, and like every other Big Sky team, suffered a conference loss in the first two weeks of league play on Dec. 30 at Idaho State. EWU’s two wins came in nail-biting fashion, as the Eagles hung on to beat Weber State 79-77 on Dec. 28 and Portland State 71-69 on Jan. 4. This start came after EWU went 7-4 in nonconference play, which was the secondbest nonconference record in school history. Four EWU players are making their mark as BSC standouts thus far.
Sophomore guard/forward Kim Aiken Jr. leads the conference in rebounding at 11.1 per game. Aiken is the only BSC player currently averaging a double-double. The versatile wing contributes 16.4 points per game, seventh-most in the BSC. Senior forward Mason Peatling has had a strong start to his final season at EWU, averaging 15.4 points and 7.4 rebounds per game. Peatling is 10th in the league in scoring and seventh in rebounding. The Aussie post player put up a conference and school-record 54 points on Dec. 13 in EWU’s rout over Multnomah. Davison is tied for fourth in the BSC in scoring, pouring in 17.6 points per game. Davison also gets 1.9 steals per game, third in the league. Freshman guard Ellis Magnuson distributes the ball effectively to Davison, Peatling and Aiken. Magnuson leads the conference in assists per game (5.9) and assist-to-turnover ratio (2.8). “We can score in many different ways,” Davison said. “When you have a great freshman point guard like Ellis, who can pass, he’s going to help out a lot against Montana’s defense.” UM won its first three BSC games before falling on Jan. 4 at Northern Colorado. The
“We already have a rivalry with Montana. ... We don’t really like each other. Losing to them back-to-back years (is) in the back of your mind.
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- JACOB DAVISON Junior guard
Griz went 4-7 in nonconference play. UM lost some firepower from last year’s championship team, but the team still provides a balanced attack led by its strong backcourt. Senior Sayeed Pridgett is one of the top players in the league, averaging 19.0 points and 7.6 rebounds per game. Pridgett is third in the BSC in both those categories. Pridgett also gets 2.0 steals per game, second in the league. Next to Pridgett is senior Kendal Manuel. Manuel is averaging 14.3 points and leads the league in free-throw percentage, stroking the nets from the charity stripe 89% of the time. UM heavily relies on Pridgett and Manuel, as the two guards are third and fourth respectively in minutes played per game in the BSC. “They’re going to trap (and) be really physical,” EWU head coach Shantay Legans said of UM. “We have to match that physicality.” EWU and UM figures to be a hotly contested matchup. Here are The Easterner’s Three Questions going into Thursday’s matchup at Reese Court.
1). How will EWU defend UM’s backcourt? Legans has said multiple times this season that he thinks Aiken is the best defender in the BSC. Aiken usually guards the opponent’s best player and figures to check Pridgett for part or most of the game, and either Magnuson or Davison will likely check onto Manuel. Davison said the team has been planning multiple defensive strategies. “We have a couple different game plans that we’ve been working on this week to mix it up and make it so they don’t really know what we’re doing,” Davison said. “It’s going
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to be good and we’re excited to show it.” Seeing how EWU defends UM’s backcourt and how UM responds will be interesting and will go a long way toward deciding a victor.
2). Will EWU’s ball movement be the difference? EWU leads the BSC in assists per game (18.1) and UM is last (10.1). This has contributed to EWU having the top scoring offense in the league, as the Eagles are averaging 85.9 points per game. Magnuson has done an admirable job of distributing the ball to scorers like Davison, Peatling, Aiken, Tanner Groves and more. That ball movement offensively for EWU and potential lack thereof for the Griz could majorly affect the outcome of the game.
3). Can EWU fans provide a similar home-court advantage to that in Missoula? Griz fans are loyal to their school. UM fans regularly are near the top of the conference in total game attendance, while EWU attendance is usually near the middle or bottom of the league. This game is a chance to change that against EWU’s biggest rival. First Thursday jokes aside, students are back in classes and can take advantage of free admission with their EagleCards to create a raucous Reese Court environment. “Montana has a great fan base,” Davison said. “Especially against us, they really like to pack it in there. It would be awesome if our fans could show the same support.” UM at EWU tips off at 6:05 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 9. •