Trio of Eagles honored on All-Big Sky team
CHENEY, Wash. —
A trio of Eastern Washington University men’s basketball players have been selected to the All-Big Sky Conference team announced Tuesday (March 12) by the league office.
Senior Jesse Hunt and junior Mason Peatling earned honors on the second team as two of the top big men in the league. Sophomore guard Jacob Davison earned third team accolades despite missing the last seven games of the league season because of an ankle injury.
“We’re excited that Jesse, Mason, and Jacob are being recognized for their performances during conference play this year,” said Eastern head coach Shantay Legans . “All three of them have battled through injuries and adversity throughout the past year and led our team to a fantastic conference season.”
That trio helped lead Eastern to a 12-8 finish in the Big Sky Conference, good for third place in the league and a first-round bye in this week’s Big Sky Conference Tournament in Boise, Idaho. Eastern will take a 14-17 overall record and three-game winning streak into its quarterfinal match-up on Thursday (March 14) at 7 p.m. Pacific time at CenturyLink Arena versus the winner of the Montana State-Idaho game on Wednesday.
Peatling had a 15.3 scoring average to rank seventh in the Big Sky in league games only, with Hunt averaging 13.9 to rank 12th. Hunt was also second in rebounding with an average of 9.5 boards per game, coming a single rebound away from tying for the lead. Peatling was fourth with a 7.2 average, and Hunt was eighth in the league in assists with a 3.6 average. Overall, Hunt leads the league in rebounding (8.9 per game) and ranks in the top 10 in scoring (14.6) and assists (3.3) with a league-high 12 double-doubles.
Until he suffered an ankle injury on Feb. 16 and forcing him to miss the last seven games, Davison had been the hottest Eagle, averaging 23.8 points in his last eight outings since scoring 11 versus Montana on Jan. 10. He had the seventh-most points in school history with 41 versus Northern Arizona on Feb. 4, and has averages of 15.2 points on the season and a team-leading 18.5 in league play. He would have ranked fifth in the Big Sky if he had played enough of EWU’s games to qualify (75 percent).
The 6-foot-7 Hunt is from Geraldton, Australia, and graduated in 2015 from Sir Francis Drake High School in California. The 6-8 Peatling is from Melbourne, Australia, while Davison is from Long Beach, Calif., and graduate from Cantwell-Sacred Heart HS in 2016. All three of them suffered injuries within the past year that kept them out of games this season, with Hunt having off-season surgery because of a lingering foot injury from the 2017-18 campaign.
“I think the fact that they didn’t make first team will give them a chip on their shoulder this week in Boise to prove to that they belong in that mix,” added Legans.
See below for complete season and career notes on each player.
2018-19 All-Big Sky Conference Team
Individual Awards
Most Valuable Player – Jordan Davis, Northern Colorado
Newcomer of the Year – Bernie Andre, Northern Arizona; Cameron Oluyitan, Southern Utah; Kendal Manuel, Montana
Freshman of the Year – Bodie Hume, Northern Colorado
Defensive Player of the Year – Jonah Radebaugh, Northern Colorado
Top Reserve – Kendal Manuel, Montana
First Team
Jordan Davis, Northern Colorado*
Ahmaad Rorie, Montana#
Jerrick Harding, Weber State#
Sayeed Pridgett, Montana
Tyler Hall, Montana State#
*Unanimous All-Big Sky First Team Selection
#Two-time All-Big Sky First Team Selection
Second Team
Jesse Hunt , Eastern Washington
Mason Peatling , Eastern Washington
Harald Frey, Montana State
Marcus Graves, Sacramento State
Holland Woods, Portland State
Third Team
Jacob Davison , Eastern Washington
Michael Oguine, Montana
Joshua Patton, Sacramento State
Bernie Andre, Northern Arizona
Cameron Oluyitan, Southern Utah
Honorable Mention
Jonah Radebaugh, Northern Colorado
Brekkott Chapman, Weber State
Brandon Boyd, Idaho State
Cody John, Weber State
#34 – Jesse Hunt – F – 6-7 – 210 – Sr. – 3L – Geraldton, Australia / Sir Francis Drake (Calif.) HS ’15
Quick Facts : Management major and has a 3.57 grade point average at Eastern. Was nominated for Academic All-America honors as a both a senior and junior and will earn his fourth Big Sky All-Academic honor in the 2018-19 season. Born July 30, 1997, in Geraldton, Australia, but spent his entire high school career in the United States. Parents are Daniel and Helen Hunt. His father was on the 1982 Sir Francis Drake squad that went 34-0 and won the state title. He went on to play at the University of Portland and play 17 seasons of professional basketball in Australia. Fellow Australians playing for the Eagles include Mason Peatling and Jack Perry , as well as former Eagles Felix Von Hofe, Geremy McKay, Michael Wearne and EWU former all-time leading scorer Venky Jois.
Big Sky Tournament Experience: He has played a team-high seven games in the Big Sky Tournament (none as a starter), and has averaged 6.7 minutes, 2.0 points and 1.4 rebounds per game. He scored four points and had three rebounds in a quarterfinal victory over Sacramento State in 2017, and scored four points in his tourney debut in a quarterfinal win over Northern Arizona in 2016.
2018-19: Hunt has had six 20-point outings this season, with 12 double-doubles – including eight of his last 15 games with a current string of three in a row. He has been EWU’s leading scorer in nine games, and has also led in rebounds 20 times, assists in 13 games and blocked shots on 10 occasions. He’s had at least five assists in six of his last 13 games. In January he was selected to the HoopsHD.com mid-season All-Big Sky team after leading the Eagles in scoring and rebounding during the preseason. He is currently averaging 14.6 points, 8.9 rebounds and 3.3 assists on the season. He leads the Big Sky in rebounding and is 10th in scoring and eighth in assists. Hunt has shooting percentages of 48.6 percent overall (12th in the Big Sky), 43.2 percent from 3-point range (fifth; 48-of-111) and 74.8 percent from the free throw line (13th). In league play he finished with averages of 13.9 points (12th), 9.5 rebounds (second, a single rebound from tying for the lead) and 3.6 assists (eighth) in 20 games. In league games only, he was sixth in the Big Sky in 3-point accuracy (43.3 percent; 29-of-67) and made 80.8 percent of his free throws (63-of-78) to rank 11th. He closed the regular season with a near triple-double with 22 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists for his 12th double-double of the season (8-4 record) in an 80-77 win at Weber State to wrap-up third place in the league. One game earlier, he had 14 points and 16 rebounds in a 91-62 win at Idaho State (2/7/19) and before that had 10 points, 10 rebounds and four assists in a 68-66 victory over Portland State (3/2/19). Hunt had a team-high 15 points with seven rebounds and two blocks against Sacramento State (2/28/19). One week earlier, in helping EWU to a weekend split and fourth-place tie in the league standings, Hunt was selected as the College Sports Madness Big Sky Conference Player of the Week on Feb. 25. Hunt averaged 17.5 points, 10.0 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 2.5 blocked shots per game. He had 16 points, 11 rebounds and five assists in a win at Northern Arizona (2/23/19) when he sank 9-of-10 free throws in the 86-73 win. One game earlier versus Southern Utah (2/21/19), Hunt had 19 points, nine rebounds, an assist and three blocked shots. Hunt had a 21-point outing in an 88-78 overtime win over Northern Colorado (2/16/19) in which he also had seven rebounds and six assists. At Montana (2/9/19) he finished with 14 points and 12 rebounds, and two games earlier in a win over Northern Arizona (2/4/19) he finished with 15 points, 11 rebounds and six assists. Hunt led the Eagles with 22 points and a career-high 17 rebounds in EWU’s 94-92 overtime win at Sacramento State (1/26/19), making 8-of-12 shots overall and 4-of-6 from the 3-point stripe. His rebounding total equaled the eighth-most in school history and exceeded by two his previous high. He also led the team in assists with six, blocks with one and steals with one. He had a double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds in an 85-81 win against Montana State (1/19/19), and 15 rebounds and eight points in a 78-71 victory over Montana (1/10/19). He finished with eight points and career highs of 12 rebounds and eight assists while going against South Dakota State All-American Mike Daum (12/18/18). In addition, Hunt scored 27 points in a December outing versus Stanford, making 9-of-15 shots from the floor and finishing with four rebounds. Hunt had back-to-back double-doubles – including a 32-point outing in an EWU victory — to earn All-Tournament honors at the Cheney Sub-Regional of the 2K Empire Classic Benefiting the Wounded Warrior Project. He scored 15 of EWU’s 22 points down the stretch en route to his second-straight double-double and give the Eagles an 87-80 victory over the University of Missouri Kansas City (11/17/18) at Reese Court. In finishing with 32 points, he doubled his previous career high of 16 and achieved what was then a new career high with 12 rebounds. Hunt hit a 3-pointer to send the game into overtime and his efforts also included two other baskets in the final 2:02 of regulation to provide most of EWU’s offense down the stretch. He then scored eight of EWU’s 18 points in overtime. He sank 12-of-16 shots from the field with a trio of 3-pointers, and also had four assists. One game earlier in a semifinal loss to Green Bay (11/16/18), Hunt finished with 15 points and 10 rebounds, plus had three assists and a pair of blocked shots. In the two games, he averaged 23.5 points, 11.0 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.0 blocked shots per game, while making 65.5 percent of his shots overall (19-of-29), 4-of-6 from the 3-point stripe and 5-of-9 free throws. He then followed those performances by leading the Eagles with 15 points at Washington (11/27/18) and had a double-double with 26 points and 10 rebounds at Seattle (12/1/18).
Career: Hunt has played in 114 career games (12th in EWU history) with 48 starts, and has averages of 6.6 points, 4.5 rebounds and 1.3 assists. He has had 14 double-doubles in his career (record of 10-4), and has scored 20 points or more on six occasions (all as a senior). He has had 32 career double-figure scoring performances in his career to go along with 17 with 10 or more rebounds. Hunt did not play in 2018 versus Utah Valley in the College Basketball Invitational, but has played in three other postseason games and has seven points and eight rebounds.
Shantay Legans Comments: “We lost Jacob a few games ago, and Jesse has picked up his production. But he’s doing it within the offense and not forcing anything. He’s playing great basketball and making plays when they need to be made. He’s rebounding and had eight assists against Weber State – to come close to a triple-double was an amazing way for a senior to end the regular season. Because of our injuries he has had to play out of position for a good portion of this season. Now with Jacob (Davison) is out we are asking him to do more ball-handling. He’s done an amazing job this year and it’s huge for him to get noticed as a player of the week because his numbers have been consistent every game. He ranks high in the Big Sky in a lot of categories – he’s doing everything for our team.”
On 3-Pointer to Send UMKC Game to Overtime: “Jesse was there and knocked down the shot. Our guys spaced the floor and Jesse came up big. Jesse had a great game. For he and Ty (Gibson) to get 20 rebounds between them was huge.”
#14 – Mason Peatling – F – 6-8 – 220 – Jr. – 2L – Melbourne, Australia / Beaconhills College HS ’16
Quick Facts: Finance major at Eastern. He has a current 3.90 grade point average at EWU. Born March 31, 1997. He and his wife, the former Laura Burdack from Melbourne, Australia, were married in February, 2016. Parents are Marcus and Susie Peatling. Fellow Australians playing for the Eagles include Jesse Hunt and Jack Perry , as well as former Eagles Felix Von Hofe, Geremy McKay, Michael Wearne and former EWU all-time leading scorer Venky Jois.
Big Sky Tournament Experience: He’s played in five games in the Big Sky Tournament (four as a starter), and has averaged 19.4 minutes, 7.2 points, 3.0 rebounds, 1.0 steals and 0.8 blocked shots per game. He scored 15 points and had four rebounds in the 2018 championship game versus Montana, and had 12 rebounds in a quarterfinal win over Portland State. He had eight points and six rebounds in his tourney debut against Sacramento State in a quarterfinal win in 2017.
2018-19: After missing EWU’s first 10 games with an injury – and two more at mid-season — Peatling has been EWU’s leading scorer in seven of the 19 games he has played since (11-8 record), and has also led in rebounds seven times. He has hit double figures in scoring 14 times (three with at least 20) and has had at least 10 rebounds three times this season. An honorable mention All-Big Sky selection a year ago, Peatling averaged 15.3 points, 7.2 rebounds, 1.4 assists, 1.1 steals and 0.7 blocks in the 18 league games he played, and 14.7 points and 7.2 rebounds overall while shooting at a 57.8 percent clip. In league games only, he’s seventh in the league in scoring (15.3), fifth in shooting (58.6 percent) and fourth in rebounding (7.2), but doesn’t rank among the overall league leaders (a player must play in 75 percent of a team’s games to be ranked). He had his second game this season versus Weber State with at least 20 points when he had 23 against the Wildcats (3/9/19) to end the regular season (he had a career-high 25 in an earlier meeting). Eastern won that game 80-77 to wrap-up third place in the league standings. Peatling had a double-double against Idaho (2/18/19) with 16 points and 13 rebounds, achieving double figures in each just 16:09 into the game. He had a near double-double of 24 points and eight rebounds in an 88-78 victory over Northern Colorado (2/16/19), sinking 11-of-15 shots from the field in the game and scoring 20 of his points after intermission. He had 16 points and seven rebounds against Montana (2/9/19), and before that had an eight-point, 10-rebound effort at Montana State (2/7/19). He had his first double-double of the season versus Sacramento State (1/26/19) when he had 17 points and 13 rebounds on 7-of-12 shooting before fouling out after playing just 25 minutes. One game earlier he had a 15-point performance at Portland State (1/24/19) in which he sank 7-of-10 shots from the field and grabbed eight rebounds before fouling out. He had one of six double-figure performances for the Eagles when the Eagles beat preseason favorite Montana (1/10/19) 78-71 at Reese Court in Cheney. He sank 6-of-8 shots from the field and 5-of-6 free throws in just 20 minutes because of foul trouble to finish with a team-high 17 points. Versus Northern Colorado (1/7/19) he finished with 19 points on 9-of-14 shooting from the field, plus had nine rebounds, two assists, two steals and two assists. He made his season debut as a starter versus Corban (12/21/18) in a 92-73 Eagle win. He played 18 minutes and finished with four points on 2-of-6 shooting, seven rebounds and four assists. He followed that with a career-high 25 against Weber State (12/29/18) in an 84-72 loss, making 9-of-17 shots from the field with a trio of 3-pointers made in four attempts. He also had six rebounds – five on the offensive end – and a pair of assists. He eclipsed his previous high of 19 versus South Dakota and Montana State in the 2017-18 season. Peatling then scored 16 in a 65-55 win over Idaho State (12/31/18). He was 7-of-9 from the field and also had eight rebounds, three assists, two steals and two blocked shots against ISU. He had a key three-point play with 2:53 left to give EWU its biggest lead of the game at the time.
Career: In his 84-game career (62 as a starter), he’s averaged 7.8 points and 4.9 rebounds with a total of 73 assists, 63 blocks and 59 steals. He has hit double figures in scoring 29 times in his career thus far, and has had at least 10 rebounds nine times. He now has seven double-doubles in his career with a record of 6-1. He played as a freshman in the 2016-17 season against Wyoming in the College Basketball Invitational and scored four points, then had five points, five rebounds and a pair of assists versus Utah Valley in a repeat appearance in the CBI in 2018.
Shantay Legans Comments After Late December Game Versus Weber State: “Mason did a great job in his first full game back. You could see he was gassed and tired at times, but he was battling and did a great job down low. He’s going to get other players open looks and open shots, but we have to make sure we’re ready and smart when we get him rolling. Mason played only 18 minutes in his first game back (against Corban), but he had four offensive rebounds and four assists – he’s an unbelievable passer and screener. We play a little more efficiently with him in the lineup. He does a lot of talking back there on defense and is our anchor. We are only going to get better with Mason out there.”
#10 – Jacob Davison – G – 6-4 – 175 – So. – 1L* – Long Beach, Calif. / Cantwell-Sacred Heart HS ’16
Quick Facts: Communications studies major. His parents are Brad and Leslie Davison, and he has two brothers (Robbie Latimer and Taylor Latimer), and a sister (Brady Davison). Achieved the rank of Eagle Scout on March 25, 2015, as a member of Troop 66 of the Long Beach Area Council. After his senior year in high school, Davison has a Boy Scouts of America fleur-de-lis tattooed on the tricep of his left arm.
Big Sky Tournament Experience: He has played in three games (all in 2018 as a non-starter) in the Big Sky Tournament, and has averaged 22.7 minutes, 13.7 points, 4.7 rebounds, 0.3 assists and 2.0 steals per game. He had five points and five assists in a quarterfinal win over Portland State in 2018, and hit a pair of 3-pointers to finish with six points in a quarterfinal victory over Sacramento State in 2017. He 16 points, five rebounds and a pair of steals in a semifinal win over Southern Utah, then had 16 points and seven boards in a championship game loss to Montana. He had nine points and three steals in his tourney debut against Portland State in a quarterfinal victory.
2018-19: Davison scored 62 points in two games – including the seventh-most in school history with 41 versus Northern Arizona (2/4/19) – to earn Big Sky Conference Men’s Basketball Player of the Week on Feb. 5 by the league office. He followed that with a team-high 24 points versus Montana State (2/7/19) and 23 against Montana (2/9/19), and has scored at least 20 in six of his last eight games he’s played. However, an ankle injury against Northern Colorado (2/16/19) has sidelined him since then. Davison became just the ninth player in Eastern’s basketball history to score at least 40 points in a single game. He is averaging 23.8 points in his last eight outings, with EWU winning five of those games. He’s made 52.2 percent of his shots in those games, making 19-of-44 3-point attempts (43.2 percent) and 29-of-37 free throws (78.4 percent). He’s also averaged 4.1 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.4 steals. Davison is averaging 15.2 points on the season and a team-leading 18.5 in league play. He doesn’t meet the minimum of playing in 75 percent of a team’s games to be ranked in league statistics, but he would rank fifth in scoring in league games if he did (18.5). He would rank sixth in the Big Sky in scoring overall (15.2), and would be seventh in the league in free throw shooting at 81.1 percent (60-of-74). Davison missed EWU’s first two games in 2018-19 because of wrist and ankle injuries, but returned to play versus Green Bay (11/16/18) and UMKC (11/17/18). He had an 11-point performance in his season debut, then scored eight points and had two assists in the next game. He had 26 points at Portland State (1/24/19), sinking 10-of-21 shots with three 3-pointers. He scored 23 with three assists, three rebounds, three steals and two blocked shots versus Montana State (1/19/19). He scored what was then a career-high 25 points versus North Dakota State (12/8/18), sinking 11-of-19 shots from the floor with a trio of 3-pointers. He had 20, with four 3-pointers, five rebounds and three assists, against South Dakota State on (12/18/18). He’s scored at least 20 points in eight Eastern games, with 15 performances in double-digits. He has been EWU’s leading scorer in seven games, and has also led in steals on nine occasions and blocked shots in six games.
Career: He’s scored at least 20 points in nine Eastern games in his career, with 25 performances in double-digits. In his 56-game career (26 as a starter), he’s averaged 10.3 points, 2.9 rebounds and 1.1 assists while sinking 46.1 percent of his shots from the field, 36.5 percent from the 3-point stripe and 82.3 percent of his free throws (121-of-147). His debut season in 2017-18 ended with seven points, a career-high four steals and three rebounds in EWU’s loss to Utah Valley in the College Basketball Invitational.
Shantay Legans Comments After 41-Point Performance: “Last spring and summer he was looking just like he is right now. He got into a car accident and broke his wrist, and he had a high ankle sprain. He’s coming into his own and feeling a lot more comfortable. The players around him are giving him all the confidence in the world. He’s having some great games and he’s understanding what we are asking of him. He’s playing better defense and that is awesome.”
