Aiken leads Eastern Washington over Weber State 79-77

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OGDEN, Utah (AP) — Kim Aiken Jr. scored 22 points, including two key free throws late, and Eastern Washington held off Weber State 79-77 in Saturday's Big Sky Conference opener for both teams.

Ellis Magnuson added 12 points, six rebounds and seven assists for the Eagles (8-4), who led 41-32 at halftime and by as many as 16 in the second half, but saw the Wildcats close to 77-75 with 22 seconds left after Cody John's 3 capped a 9-0 Weber State run.

Aiken's free throws put the Eagles up 79-75 and he missed another free throw with 12 seconds to go before Judah Jordan's layup made it a two-point game. Weber State got the rebound after another free-throw miss by Aiken with 2 seconds left, but didn't get a final shot.

Aiken grabbed seven rebounds and Mason Peatling had 12 points and eight boards for the Eagles, who made 10 of 26 3-pointers (38%) to the Wildcats' 5 of 19 (26%).

Jerrick Harding scored 26 points for Weber State (4-8), which made 31 of 62 field-goal attempts (50%) to the Eagles' 28-of-64 (38%). Michal Kozak added 11 points with 10 rebounds, John scored 15 points and Tim Fuller had 10.

Eastern Washington plays at Idaho State on Monday and Weber State hosts Idaho on Monday.

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