GREELEY, Colo.—Chris Kaba sank a 3-pointer with 23 seconds left and Will Figures scored 23 points as Northern Colorado edged Eastern Washington 58-54 Thursday night.
Kaba, who was subbing for the Bears’ injured second-leading scorer, Devon Beitzel, had 14 points and made all three of his 3-pointers in the second half. Mike Proctor added 11 points for Northern Colorado (21-6, 10-4 Big Sky).
Beitzel broke his left ankle in the Bears’ previous game. Northern Colorado avoided its first losing streak of the year.
Jeffrey Forbes led Eastern Washington (8-19, 4-9) with 15 points. The Eagles had 17 turnovers and were denied a season-high three-game winning streak.
Mark Dunn’s only basket of the game, a 3-pointer with 38 seconds left, gave Eastern Washington a brief lead, 54-53. Following a timeout, the Bears worked the ball around the perimeter and Kaba made a wide-open trey from the top of the key.
Forbes missed a runner in the lane with 4.5 seconds left and Figures sealed the win with a pair of free throws.
Glen Dean made a 3-pointer to put Eastern Washington ahead 33-28 early in the second half and Forbes extended its to 40-31 on a fastbreak basket followed by his own trey with 11:19 left. Figures regained the lead, 45-43 with a 3-pointer, but Forbes tied it at 46 with two free throws.
Northern Colorado pulled ahead again, on Kaba’s 3-pointer and two free throws by Taylor Montgomery that made it a 51-46 game with 3:01 remaining before the lead changed hands twice.
Figures had 14 by halftime and Northern Colorado overcame a slow start to lead 26-24 at the break. The Bears trailed 16-12 midway through the half as reserve Benny Valentine’s two 3-pointers capped a 9-0 Eastern Washington run.
Northern Colorado pulled ahead 22-19 on a short jumper and two free throws by Figures. The Eagles, who were plagued by 13 turnovers in the half, closed the gap to 26-24 in the final minute on a layup by Laron Griffin.
