MOSCOW, Idaho – A furious second-half rally helped lead Idaho (18-11, 10-6 BSC) past Eastern Washington (16-12, 10-6 BSC), 66-62, in front of a sellout crowd in Memorial Gym on Saturday afternoon. With the win, the Vandals move into a tie for third in the Big Sky with just two games to play.
“It's a big win in the conference standings,” said head coach Don Verlin. “Our goal is to get a top-four seed and they're a game ahead of us. Us being able to split with them is huge.”
Victor Sanders was the hero for the Vandals on Saturday, leading the squad with 16 points. None were bigger than his three free throws with 1:34 to play, giving Idaho the lead that it would not relinquish.
From there, the Vandals locked in defensively, keeping the Eagles off the scoreboard the rest of the way.
“We were pretty good defensively tonight,” Verlin said. “I thought we executed the gameplan well. I thought we defended their personnel really well and when you hold a team as good as Eastern to those percentages, that's just a great defensive effort.”
Chris Sarbaugh also had a solid night, finishing with 12 points, six boards and four assists. Nate Sherwood and Arkadiy Mkrtychyan each scored in double-figures as well, at 11 and 10 points respectively.
The Vandal defense was solid all night, keeping the best shooting team in the conference to just 31 percent from beyond the arc and 43 percent from the field.
Idaho struggled from beyond the arc in the first half, going 0-of-6 from beyond the arc. The Vandals would heat up in the second to go 6-of-10 and earn the win.
The battle of the boards swung in the favor of the Vandals yet again, as Idaho outrebounded EWU 35-26.
Idaho stays home for its final two games of the season, against Weber State and Idaho State next week. Check back with GoVandals.com next week for more information.
Fans can stay up-to-date on all things Idaho men's basketball by following the team on twitter, @VandalHoops.
For more information on Idaho Athletics, visit GoVandals.com. Fans can also find Idaho on Twitter and Instagram, @Idaho_Vandals, or on Facebook by searching Idaho Vandals
