Eastern Washington University elected to challenge themselves with a tough non-conference schedule this year as the Eagles play seven opponents from Power Five conferences. On Friday, EWU played the Ole Miss Rebels of the SEC and lost 75-64. 

Eastern’s leading scorer was junior forward Cedric Coward, who finished the game with 16 points and 6 rebounds on 8-13 shooting. On Mississippi’s first possession, junior forward Ethan Price got a steal and threw the ball ahead to Coward, who threw down a dunk.

Unfortunately for the Eagles, Coward’s dunk did not lead to a fast start for the team. Ole Miss scored 7 unanswered points in the next two minutes, and the Rebels continued their strong play to jump to an early lead of 15-8. 

That’s when Coward made his second shot of the game, another dunk, and this time it kickstarted a 7-2 EWU run to tie up the game. He scored 10 points during the first half, providing a spark to Eastern’s offense. 

The two teams appeared evenly matched throughout the rest of the first half, as after the first 20 minutes, Ole Miss held a narrow 34-32 lead over the Eagles.

Eastern started the second half quickly, and two assists from senior forward Ellis Magnusson to junior forward Casey Jones and Coward gave EWU a 39-38 lead with 17:53 remaining in the game.

Ole Miss and Eastern exchanged leads 11 times in the next seven minutes, before a layup by the Rebels’ freshman forward Rashaud Marshall gave the Rebels a 52-51 lead and sparked an 18-3 run that sealed the game.

Marshall was crucial for the Rebels, as he had 9 points and provided important defensive stops while coming off the bench.

Senior guard Allen Flanigan scored 12 points for the Rebels in the last ten minutes of the game, helping Ole Miss to pull away from the Eagles.

Flanigan, who transferred to Ole Miss after four years at Auburn, scored a career-high 29 points and reached 1000 total points for his collegiate career. 

Also contributing to the Rebels’ run were numerous turnovers by the Eagles. EWU turned over the ball 17 times, while Ole Miss had just 8 turnovers.

A positive takeaway from the game is that the Eagles crashed the boards. Eastern outrebounded Ole Miss 38-29, despite the Rebels’ starting center, senior Jamarion Sharp, being 7’5.

Contributors in this area included Coward and senior guard Jake Kyman, who each had 6 rebounds, as well as Jones and redshirt freshman forward LeJuan Watts, who had 5 boards apiece. 

Watts, who had 15 points and 10 rebounds in Eastern’s first game against Utah, had another strong performance against the Rebels, as in addition to his help in the rebounding department, he scored 6 points on 3-3 shooting, bringing his field goal percentage to 83.3 percent this season.

The Eagles will play Cincinnati on Sunday, who are currently sitting at 2-0 after their 93-61 victory against Detroit Mercy.