Bud Withers / Times college basketball reporter
Eastern will dance

	JEFF T. GREEN / AP Eastern Washington's Matt Nelson (22) goes to the basket against Northern Arizona's Adrian Hayes, left, and Ruben Boykin, Jr. in the first half last night in Cheney.
	E-mail this article Print this article Search archive Related stories Eastern Washington earns its first NCAA tourney bid Other links Eastern-N. Arizona box score

CHENEY — When the moment finally came, the students at Eastern Washington couldn't complete the 20-year wait. With four seconds to go in their Big Sky men's basketball final last night with Northern Arizona, they tore onto the court in a swarm of euphoria.

A hand-painted red sign helped explain their impatience: "FINALLY."

When those last seconds had ticked down, Eastern had a 71-59 victory over NAU, a victory that was a little like the long climb to its first berth in the NCAA tournament. The Eagles trailed by four at the half, and once again, for what would be a fourth straight year, it appeared they could do the unthinkable — lose in the conference final, when all that remained was 40 minutes to Selection Sunday.

This time they pushed through. This time, it was all good. This time, Alvin Snow can go back to Seattle, back in his neighborhood near Franklin High School, and tell them Eastern is indeed NCAA Division I.

"All the time, I would hear, 'Eastern? What are you doing?' What was I thinking? Have I lost my mind?" said Snow, a senior guard. "People all the time asked me if Eastern was D-I.

"When I go home and show them the ring, they'll know we're D-I, and hopefully they'll be tuned in on CBS (Sunday), and we'll still be D-I."

Seated next to Snow almost an hour after the finish were Marc Axton, the junior forward from Foss High in Tacoma, and Brendon Merritt, whose 22 points on 7-for-11 shooting helped earn him tournament MVP honors.

The urgency of the night was burned into the Eagles, branded in the disappointments of a tournament-final loss three years ago at Cal State-Northridge; to Montana in 2002; and to Weber State last year. In the last two, Eastern was close, with a chance to make a play to win it in the final minute.

It always slipped away, denying them that first trip to the dance in the 20-year history of the school as a Division I entity.

College basketball contest Register for our men's basketball tournament contest. You could win cash or cool prizes. It's free! Midwest Finals South West East Quick Picks | Teams | Login

So last night, the nervous anxiety was a little too much for Merritt.

"I didn't get any sleep, I mean no sleep," said Merritt. "I was going through every possible situation."

To get to this peak Eastern had to rise from a deep valley. The coach, Ray Giacoletti, Bob Bender's former assistant at Washington, overscheduled his team, playing Oklahoma, Iowa and Gonzaga. He got the Eagles in so tough, he lived to regret it.

On the night of Dec. 31, as much of the nation partied, Giacoletti's team got thrashed by Gonzaga, 70-49. Eastern was 3-9.

"We had a little rough-edged meeting in the locker room after that game," said Giacoletti, "where we talked about Marc Axton stepping up and helping the seniors with leadership."

The Eagles slowly began to turn it around, winning two of their next three. Then they went to Northern Arizona and fell behind by 12 at the half, about to go 1-2 in the league.

"We were playing with no energy," Giacoletti said. "I just walked into the locker room at halftime and said, 'Hey, until you want to play defense harder, we don't have anything to talk about.' And I walked out."

Eastern got the message. The Eagles came back to win 63-57, and they've hardly stopped since. While Giacoletti's old Washington team has gotten hot, Eastern has, almost simultaneously, won 13 of its last 15 and finally bashed down a barrier.

At the altar, they almost forget the right words. For most of the first half, NAU ran better offense, made itself hard to guard, and frustrated Eastern defensively. Of all the unkind cuts of recent years, this would have been the most cruel.

"Our defensive intensity in the first half wasn't the same as it was last night," said Merritt, referring to a 19-point victory over Weber State. "We had to get refocused on defense."

Merritt was critical. At one point, he achieved the rarity of taking charges on two consecutive possessions. Before that, Eastern hit baskets on its first two possessions of the half and Merritt rained a three-pointer home with 17:35 left to revive the crowd of 4,615 and give the Eagles a 36-33 lead they never lost.

When the clock had expired amid the bedlam, Giacoletti turned to hug his wife, Kim, and slap a high-five with Gonzaga coach Mark Few, seated just behind him with his wife, Marcy.

Later, Giacoletti would thank former players who were there, former assistant Mike Burns, now at Washington State, and ex-Eagles coach Steve Aggers. It was Aggers, now at Loyola Marymount, who revived the Eagles and established winning seasons preceding Giacoletti.

Giacoletti scoffed at the idea that this was big for him. But if you're a coach, and you dream about seeing your school flashed on the bracket on national television, you know there are only so many chances.

Insisting it was for the long-suffering players, Giacoletti said, "I'll have other opportunities."

Maybe so. But the students who poured onto the floor concluded he can speak for himself.

Bud Withers: 206-464-8281 or bwithers@seattletimes.com

Copyright © 2004 The Seattle Times Company