GAME NOTES: The Eastern Washington Eagles will try to keep rolling when they face the San Francisco Dons in a non-conference tilt at War Memorial Gymnasium.

Eastern Washington has lost just one game in eight tries this season, falling at SMU, 77-68, on Nov. 22. The Eagles have pulled off four straight wins since that letdown, including an 87-75 road win against Seattle this past Saturday. The win over Seattle began a five-game road trip for the Eagles, which continues on Sunday at Washington.

San Francisco has had a bit more trouble in its first eight games. The Dons own a 5-3 overall mark at this point, with wins in two of their last three contests, including an 85-54 romp over Houston Baptist last time out. They will host Cal Poly and Portland State in their next two games.

In the only previous meeting between these teams, San Francisco earned a 66-48 victory at home during the 1995-96 season.

Eastern Washington ran out to a 44-25 halftime lead and never looked back against Seattle. The Eagles hit an even 50 percent of their shots from the floor, although they had a bit more trouble from 3-point range (8-of-25). Venky Jois led the way in the victory, piling up 38 points on 13-of-18 shooting. Drew Brandon notched only five points, but he added 12 rebounds and 11 assists.

Jois (21.9 ppg, 8.1 rpg, 2.8 bpg) is proving to be a real challenge for opposing teams. He has had 38 points in each of the last two games, while scoring in double figures in all contests. He also has a pair of double- doubles to his name and a streak of four games with at least three blocks. Tyler Harvey (20.6 ppg) can score at an extremely impressive rate as well, netting an even 50 percent of his shots from the floor. Brandon (9.9 ppg, 8.3 rpg, 5.7 apg) is a rare triple-double threat and Ognjen Miljkovic (12.3 ppg) adds more firepower.

Strong play in the second half really allowed San Francisco to pull away from Houston Baptist. The Dons did lead at halftime (33-23), but they erupted for 52 points in the final 20 minutes by nailing 13-of-20 shots from the floor and 21-of-27 at the free throw line. Devin Watson was the top scorer in the game for the Dons, producing 14 points on 2-of-2 from 3-point range and 8-of-8 from the foul line.

Watson is only averaging six points per game this season, while playing an average of 16.4 minutes off the bench. The real stalwarts for the squad are Kruize Pinkins (15.2 ppg, 6.2 rpg), Mark Tollefsen (14.1 ppg) and Tim Derksen (12 ppg). Derksen and Tollefsen each had 12 points against Houston Baptist, while Pinkins managed 11 in only 17 minutes. As a team, the Dons are connecting on an impressive 48.2 percent of their shots from the floor, while ranking 20th in the country in rebounds (41.8 rpg).

If Jois continues to score at his recent rate, the Eagles will be tough to stop. However, expect the Dons' frontline, led by Pinkins, to put up more resistance and help the home team come out on top.