Recap: Weber State vs. Eastern Wash

Ogden, UT (Sports Network) - Led by Scott Bamforth with 18 points, the Weber State Wildcats handed a 65-57 defeat to the Eastern Washington Eagles in a Big Sky Conference battle at the Dee Events Center.

For the Wildcats (24-5, 18-2 Big Sky), Joel Bolomboy added 11 points and four blocked shots and Frank Otis pulled down 11 rebounds. Weber State will now enter the Big Sky Conference Tournament as the No. 2 seed and will face No. 7 seed Northern Arizona Thursday afternoon.

Tyler Harvey led the Eagles (10-21, 7-13) with 17 points and Venky Jois chipped in with 10 points and nine boards. Eastern Washington finished ninth in the conference and failed to qualify for the league tournament.

Both teams struggled from the field to open the contest. Weber State shot just 37.9 percent from the field, but did connect on 4-of-10 from 3-point range, as they took a 35-30 into intermission. Eastern Washington made only 36.7 percent of their field goal attempts but did hit on 3-of-10 from 3-point distance.

The Wildcats improved to 43.5 percent shooting after halftime, including 2- of-5 from 3-point range. The Eagles continued their shooting woes, making only 33.3 percent of their field goal tries and just 2-of-11 from beyond the 3- point arc.

Though it led for the entire second half, Weber State saw their advantage shrink to one, 51-50, with just over six minutes to play. The Wildcats responded with five straight points and the Eagles never got closer than three the rest of the way, as the hosts held on for the victory.

Weber State had the edge on the boards, 42-34, and outscored the Eagles at the free-throw line, 17-8.