Hail to the Victors

Men’s Basketball honored for its 2020 Big Sky Conference title

By Eastern Magazine

In May, the Spokane County Board of Commissioners recognized the Eastern men’s basketball team in a proclamation made during a remotely-held meeting. The citation recognized EWU for winning the Big Sky Conference outright championship, honored Mason Peatling for his conference MVP win, and gave a shout-out to Peatling, Jacob Davison and Kim Aiken, Jr. for their selections to the All-Big Sky team.

The Big Sky Conference title was the fourth in school history, but was ultimately bittersweet. The coronavirus pandemic ended the team’s hopes of traveling to Boise, Idaho, for the Big Sky Tournament, where a win would have sealed the team’s third NCAA Tournament berth.

“We handled business and put ourselves in a position to play in the NCAA Tournament,” says head coach Shantay Legans, the Big Sky Coach of the Year who in June was named one of the “Top 40 Coaches Under 40” by ESPN. “We felt good every time we stepped on the court, and worked hard to get there.”