Men’s basketball remains in third place despite loss
March 4, 2016
The Eagles played their final road game of the season on Feb. 27 looking to hold on to their third place spot in the standings going into the Big Sky Conference Tournament in Reno, Nevada, March 8-12.
EWU took on the University of Idaho and could not overcome the Vandals defense in the final minutes of the game. Going into the half leading, 34-30, the Eagles shot at a 48 percent mark from the field and 38 percent from the 3-point arc while holding the Vandals to a 44 percent mark from the field. The Eagles did not allow them to score a single 3-point shot as they went 0-6 in the half from the arc.
In the first half, senior forward Venky Jois scored 9 points and senior guard Austin McBroom and junior guard Julian Harrell each had 8.
The second half stats were much different as the Eagles struggled to score. The Vandals had a 10-2 run and hit four free throws in the final minutes to seal their win, 66-62, over EWU.
The Vandals finished with a shooting percentage of 48 from the field and 38 from the arc, while the Eagles shot at 43 percent from the field and 31 percent from the arc.
This game was the first since Feb. 4 where Eastern had not made at least half of their shots.
EWU is now 10-6 in conference play and 16-12 overall. It remains in third place in the BSC, tied with Idaho with two games remaining on the schedule.
Jois finished with 16 points and five rebounds. He now has 1,733 career points and is 8 points away from the school record of 1,741.
McBroom scored 11 points with three assists and Harrell finished with 10 points and four rebounds.
Sophomore forward Bogdan Bliznyuk had 12 points and eight rebounds and junior forward Felix Von Hofe scored 10 points.
“It was a great basketball game, but Idaho was a little better than us today,” said Eastern head coach Jim Hayford. “Their strength is their rebounding and they beat us on the boards. I thought we had great execution, we just missed our last five shots.”
The Eagles return home to play their final two games of the season, starting with Idaho State on March 3 at 6:05 p.m.
