Field Level Media
Dec 21, 2019
Filip Petrusev had a game-high 24 points on 7-of-9 shooting and nine rebounds as No. 2 Gonzaga cruised past visiting Eastern Washington 112-77 Saturday afternoon in Spokane, Washington, in the first meeting between the nearby schools since 2011.
It was the Bulldogs' 25th consecutive victory dating to 1990 against the Eagles, whose campus in Cheney is less than 20 miles from Gonzaga's. The Bulldogs lead the all-time series 35-5.
Guard Admon Gilder, a graduate transfer from Texas A&M, scored 22 points on 8-of-11 shooting for Gonzaga (13-1), which has won five consecutive games. Ryan Woolridge added 15 points and a game-high five assists, and Joel Ayayi and Corey Kispert each scored 13 points.
Jacob Davison scored 17 points and Tyler Kidd had 16 for Eastern Washington (7-4), which had its three-game winning streak snapped. Kim Aiken Jr. added 11 points.
Mason Peatling, who scored a Big Sky Conference record 54 points in a recent victory against Multnomah, an NAIA school, was limited to eight points and seven rebounds before fouling out.
The Bulldogs suffered no letdown after victories at No. 22 Washington and then-No. 15 Arizona and back home against North Carolina.
The Eagles entered the game as the top-scoring team in NCAA Division I with 90.7 points per game. Gonzaga was No. 4 at 86.4.
But the expected track meet was over midway through the race.
The Bulldogs broke away from a 6-6 tie with a 23-3 run. They expanded the lead to 64-33 by halftime, with five players reaching double digits in scoring by the intermission.
Gonzaga shot 47.9 percent (35 of 73) from the field, including 12 for 30 from 3-point range. The Bulldogs were also 30 of 40 from the free-throw line and outrebounded Eastern Washington 49-34, with 21 of those boards on the offensive end. The Bulldogs forced 18 turnovers and scored 29 points off of them.
--Field Level Media