The Carroll College Fighting Saints traveled from Montana to Cheney to play an exhibition game against the Eagles on Oct. 26. The game was the first of two preseason matches for the Eastern Washington University men’s basketball team.

Senior guard Andrew Cook, who transferred to EWU from Carroll last season, was expected to start against his former team. However, the 2023-24 NAIA All-American underwent surgery earlier this month for a fractured ankle he sustained during a practice and will not play for the Eagles this season. On Thursday, Oct. 23, he was named to the Preseason All-Big Sky team.

Cook was the leading scorer for EWU last season, averaging 15.8 points per game. The Eagles’ second-highest scoring returning player, sophomore Emmett Marquardt, was a starter, alongside four transfers: Graduate student forward Kiree Huie, graduate student guard Straton Rogers, and senior guards Isaiah Moses and Jojo Anderson.

Moses, who played for UC Riverside last season, operated as Eastern Washington’s primary ball-handler, a role that will be important for EWU to fill without Cook. Last year, Moses averaged 12 points and 3 assists per game for the Highlanders. 

Huie, the former Miami Hurricane and Idaho State Bengal, is the team’s starting big man. He was a starter for ISU two seasons ago, and his 5.8 rebounds and 1.3 blocks per game that season would have been the highest averages on Eastern Washington last season.

The Eagles rotated players heavily and gave each player a chance to play, including senior guard Maddox Monson. The son of EWU head coach Dan Monson hit a three-point shot shortly after checking into the game, causing the bench to erupt into cheers. 

Due to the exhibition nature of the match, stats and scores were not officially recorded. However, EWU led 87-74 at the end of the game.

Eastern Washington will play their first regular-season game in California on Monday, Nov. 3, against UCLA. The team will then play three more away games before their home opener against Eastern Oregon on Nov. 17.