The Eagles played two games over the weekend, facing Southern Utah University and Northern Arizona University. Coming off of a win against Idaho, EWU was looking to improve on its 7-8 overall record.

On the night of Jan. 14 EWU played SUU, which was 3-10 overall going into the game. The Eagles came out hot, having a stretch where they made 10 of 12 shots. In the first half, they shot 59 percent from the field and made two of their 3-point attempts. EWU went into the half with a 49-30 lead.

The Eagles started the second half right where they left off, making 10 of their first 11 shots of the half and leading by as many as 32 points. They shot 63 percent from the field and 64 percent from the 3-point arc to win by a final score of 106-80.
Forward Venky Jois put up his 30th career double-double with 24 points and 12 rebounds.

Guard Austin McBroom had 25 points and guard Julian Harrell had 15.

Guard Ty Gibson, a true freshman, made all three of his attempted 3-point shots and finished with 10 points off the bench.
Forward Bogdan Bliznyuk had 8 points and a career high six assists.

On Jan. 16 the Eagles matched up against NAU which was 3-12 overall going into the game.

The game started out close as NAU hit 75 percent of its 3-point shots in the first eight minutes to EWU’s 25 percent. The score was tied, 18-18, with 11:48 left in the game.

But the Eagles stepped it up and started hitting more shots, with a pair coming from guard Sir Washington off the bench.
In the first half, the Eagles shot at only 27 percent from the 3-point line but had a 53 percent mark from the field. EWU had two separate 12-0 runs in the half to have a 45-32 lead going into the break.

In the second half the Eagles shot at an even better mark, shooting at 55 percent from the 3-point arc and 59 percent from the field. EWU outscored NAU, 51-41, in the final half to win the game, 96-73.

McBroom did not have a single 3-point shot in the first half but came out and had five in the second.

As a team, the Eagles shot 55 percent from the field and 39 percent from the 3-point line and led for nearly 36 of the 40 minutes of the game.

It was a big game for the team, but none had a bigger game than Bliznyuk, who earlier in the week became an American citizen.
Bliznyuk put up the first triple-double in school history scoring 11 points, with 14 rebounds and 10 assists and was mobbed on the court after getting his tenth assist to complete the feat.

“Everything was going pretty well today,” said Bliznyuk. “Teammates were hitting shots. I’m honored to be the first one in school history to get a triple-double. It’s something that’s going to stand out in my basketball career so I’m really happy right now.”

Jois was 10-12 from the field and led the team with 21 points and had eight rebounds.
McBroom had 19 points while going 5-10 from beyond the arc.

Harrell scored 11 points and Washington put beyond 13 points off the bench, going a perfect 5-5 from the field.

Guard Cody Benzel played for seven minutes and scored 6 points while going a perfect 2-2 from both the field and the 3-point line.

“We’re very grateful for a solid home stand these three games,” said coach Jim Hayford. “We played really well and really kind of found our balance and our rhythm as a team these last two weeks.”

The Eagles are now 9-8 overall and 3-2 in conference play.

What’s next: EWU will travel to face Montana State on Jan. 21 at 6:05 p.m.