Nov 24, 2002
Final Stats?|? Quotes?|? Notes
By BERNIE WILSON
AP Sports Writer
SAN DIEGO (AP) - Eleven months later, Eastern Washington got even with San Diego State.
Brendon Merritt hit three 3-point shots in the second half and freshman Danny Pariseau added two more as the Eagles rallied to beat the Aztecs 75-70 Saturday night.
Eastern Washington (2-1) outscored San Diego State 52-37 in the final 24 minutes to ruin the Aztecs' season opener.
Last Dec. 20, the Aztecs blew out the Eagles, 86-58, also in San Diego.
"It's a good win for us," Eagles coach Ray Giacoletti said. "For three seniors to be able to come back and turn it around is a nice feeling.
"It was about as low a point as we had, and take nothing away from San Diego, they had a heck of a year, but we got embarrassed," Giacoletti said. "That's something that stuck with us for the rest of the year and we talked about that constantly."
Before the game, the Aztecs unveiled a banner commemorating their Mountain West Conference tournament title, which put them in the NCAA tournament for the first time in 17 seasons.
"That was not the way any of us wanted to start the season," Steve Fisher said after opening his fourth season as SDSU's coach. "We fought a team that fought a little harder than us to win."
Chris Hester and Alvin Snow scored 15 points apiece for EWU, the preseason pick to win the Big Sky Conference, and Merritt and Pariseau had 13 apiece.
Mike Mackell led San Diego State with 19 points and Tony Bland scored 16.
San Diego State's Steve Sir was fouled by Pariseau on a 3-point shot with 17 seconds left, and made all three free throws to pull the Aztecs within one.
But Marc Axton and Merritt each made two free throws in the closing seconds to seal the victory.
After San Diego State took its biggest lead, 33-23 with 3:41 left in the first half, Eastern Washington went on a 21-2 run spanning halftime to go ahead 44-35 with 16:08 left to play.
The Eagles scored on four straight possessions to pull to 33-31 at halftime.
"We showed a lot of composure to cut the lead to two," Giacoletti said. "It's amazing what happens when you put pressure on. We switched our defense up a little bit. Early in the season people don't see a whole lot of zone defense. I think that threw them a little bit off kilter."
Consecutive 3-point shots by Merritt just 33 seconds apart early in the second half gave the Eagles a 41-35 lead, their first since the opening minutes. Hester added a three-point play to put the Eagles ahead 44-35.
San Diego State answered with a 12-1 run, with Bland scoring the first five points, to regain the lead at 47-45.
But the Eagles used long shots to go ahead for good. Merritt's 3-pointer with 10:40 left gave EWU a 50-48 lead. Pariseau and Browne hit consecutive 3's from almost the same spot in the left corner, and Pariseau added another for a 67-60 lead with 3:56 to play.
"I didn't think they were going to shoot the ball quite that well," San Diego State's Aerick Sanders said. "They shot the 3-ball really well tonight."