Washington closes nonconference play with win over Eastern Washington

Field Level Media|published: Thu 21st December, 23:51 2023

Nov 19, 2023; Las Vegas, NV, USA; Washington Huskies forward Keion Brooks Jr. (1) dunks against the San Diego State Aztecs during the second half at T-Mobile Arena. credits: Stephen R. Sylvanie-USA TODAY Sports

Keion Brooks Jr. scored a game-high 20 points as Washington wrapped up nonconference play with a 73-66 victory against Eastern Washington in a nonconference game Thursday night in Seattle.

Moses Wood added 17 points and six rebounds and Koren Johnson scored 11 for the Huskies (8-3), who won their fourth consecutive game.

Dane Erikstrup tied his season high with 17 points for the Eagles (4-7), who had a three-game winning streak snapped. Ethan Price added 12 points for EWU and Casey Jones scored 10 before fouling out.

The Eagles dropped to 0-5 against Pacific-12 Conference teams this season, but kept it close throughout after losing their previous attempts by an average of 24.5 points.

Wood's 3-pointer from the right corner broke a 62-all tie with 2:48 left.

Sahvir Wheeler made a 15-foot bank shot while falling backward as the shot clock expired with 1:34 left to give the Huskies a 69-63 lead.

EWU's Jake Kyman responded with a 3-pointer with 1:20 remaining to cut the lead in half.

Brooks made two free throws with 55 seconds left and Wood added two more with 23 seconds to go to help clinch the victory.

Trailing 48-46 with less than 15 minutes remaining, the Huskies put together an 8-0 run to take the lead.

Erikstrup's 3-pointer pulled the Eagles within a point and they regained the lead on Ellis Magnuson's reverse layup with 5:44 left.

The Huskies improved to 4-1 when trailing at halftime as EWU led 40-39 after a back-and-forth first half.

The Huskies dominated the opening 10 minutes, scoring the first five points and extending the lead to 22-13 on Johnson's turnaround jumper in the lane following an EWU turnover with 9:38 left in the half to cap an 8-0 run.

Trailing 24-15, the Eagles scored 14 consecutive points to take their first lead. Magnuson sparked the run with a 3-pointer, Ethan Price converted a three-point play, Erikstrup made a layup and two free throws, LeJuan Watts made a layup off a turnover and Jones capped the spurt with a fast-break dunk.

EWU built a five-point lead before Brooks' jumper in the lane, a 3-pointer by Wilhelm Breidenbach and two late free throws by Wood pulled the Huskies within a point at the intermission.

Huskies starting center Franck Kepnang missed the game with a knee injury.

—Field Level Media

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