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Freshman Rodney Stuckey scored 38 points as Eastern Washington held on to beat Portland State 81-75 in the quarterfinals of the Big Sky Tournament on Saturday night. Stuckey hit 3 of 4 from the foul line in the final 25 seconds as the Eagles (15-14) advanced to a conference semifinal matchup against Montana in Flagstaff, Ariz., on Tuesday. Tournament host Northern Arizona meets Sacramento State in the other semi. Portland State finished 12-17. Eastern, which led by 14 at halftime, saw its lead dwindle to four, 68-64, on a three-point play by Anthony Washington with 4:13 to play. A 3-pointer from Stuckey put EWU back up by eight, 73-65, with 2:45 left. After a Stuckey free throw made it 77-72 with 25.1 seconds left, Portland State's Juma Kamara buried a deep 3-pointer to pull the Vikings to within two points, 77-75. Stuckey and Matt Penoncello each hit two foul shots to seal Eastern's win. Stuckey, named the league's MVP earlier this week, hit 13 of 20 from the floor and had four 3-pointers as he led EWU in scoring for the 25th straight game. Paul Butorac chipped in 13 points and five rebounds and Deuce Smith six rebounds and six assists for the Eagles, who shot 64 percent from the floor. Washington finished with 18 points, hitting 7 of 7 from the floor, for PSU. Kamara added 16 points and Jake Schroeder 12 for the Vikings. PSU, which had four straight wins, played without center Scott Morrison, suspended for a game after last weekend's win over Montana.
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