The EWU men’s basketball team competed against Northern Colorado University and the University of North Dakota at home.

The Eagles defeated Northern Colorado, 95-85, on Jan. 22.

“[I was] really pleased with our intensity, particularly the first half and the first five minutes of the second half,” said head coach Jim Hayford. “[It was] some of the best defense we played all season.”

In the beginning of the first half, Eastern went on a 16-2 run. The Eagles led throughout the first half and were in the zone offensively. EWU made eight 3-pointers in the first half. The Eagles also zeroed in on defense by grabbing 16 defensive rebounds, blocking five shots and tallying three steals.

Eastern led defiantly throughout the second half until the 2:42 mark when Northern Colorado cut the Eagles’ lead to nine points. The Bears used the full court press multiple times to get back into the game.

“We didn’t handle closing out the game obviously the way we would like to,” said Hayford. “But, we’re really happy with the win, [we are] really happy with how we played offensively with the exception of the turnovers.”

“We’ve been focusing on closing out games and we didn’t do that well,” said junior guard Tyler Harvey. “But, we’re still learning and if we can put together two halves like that, we can beat anyone.”

Eastern managed to get the victory by getting to the free-throw line. Freshman guard Sir Washington, freshman forward Bogdan Bliznyuk, senior guard Drew Brandon and Harvey all went to the foul line to secure the win.

Harvey scored 35 points for the game while knocking down five 3-pointers.

“Coach always tells me to shoot with confidence,” said Harvey. “I was just feeling it in the first half a little bit, and getting open looks and [you have to] knock them down.”

Senior Parker Kelly finished with 15 points. Brandon scored 14 points, he also finished with 11 rebounds and four assists. Sophomore forward Ognjen Miljkovic had 11 points; Bliznyuk chipped in with 10 points and grabbed nine rebounds.

On Jan. 24 Eastern defeated North Dakota, 102-80.

In the beginning of the first half, both teams were aggressive for the first five minutes of the game. Eastern became sluggish on defense toward the middle of the first half as North Dakota went on a mini 6-0 run at the eight-minute mark.

The Eagles managed to stay close, however North Dakota finished the first half on a 6-0 run to lead 41-35 at halftime.

In the opening minutes of the second half, Eastern flipped the script as they went on a 8-0 run with scoring from Bliznyuk and Harvey.

“I thought the second half was our best 20 minutes of basketball this season,” said Hayford. “We were really, really good offensively and executed to shoot 74 percent.”

The game managed to stay close until the 12:15 mark when Eastern increased their lead to ten points, thanks to a 3-pointer by Miljkovic. The Eagles led throughout the second half and soon led by 20 points at the 5:58 mark, 83-63.

EWU managed to get a comfortable victory as they beat UND by 22 points, scoring over 100 points for the second time this season.

Harvey finished with 26 points, five assists and five rebounds. Miljkovic had 18 points for the game. Brandon had 11 points, 13 assists and eight rebounds, two rebounds shy a triple-double. Kelly finished with 10 points, six rebounds, shooting 2-4 behind the 3-point line.

Bliznyuk was the second leading scorer in the game with 25 points. He also grabbed seven rebounds.

“My team kind of just picked me up at halftime and said they needed me,” said Bliznyuk. “So they got me the same shots and I made them, so I’m happy to help the team out.”

Eastern will compete against the University of Idaho at home on Jan. 31.