It's still January, but the intensity was like March.
 
In another heavyweight battle between the Eastern Washington University men's basketball team and its rival to the East, the Eagles couldn't hold off Montana in the final 4 1/2 minutes and lost 74-69 Saturday (Jan. 23) in a Big Sky Conference game at Dahlberg Arena in Missoula, Mont.
 
The foursome of EWU's Venky Jois and Austin McBroom and Montana's Martin Breunig and Walter Wright combined for 93 of the 143 points scored in the game. Those four players scored 24 of the last 25 as Montana used a 6-1 run to take the lead for good after a 63-all tie with 4:32 left.
 
"It was a great basketball game – give both teams credit," said Eastern head coach Jim Hayford. "All Big Sky league games should be this good. You recruit players to be able to play in games like this. I thought our players showed a lot of toughness and battled through adversity."
 
Both teams were coming off losses, and had battled three times a year ago – including two EWU wins in Missoula. Those games featured 28 lead changes and 14 more ties, and Saturday's latest installment of the rivalry did not disappoint. In the last 11 minutes alone when the teams traded blows, there were four ties and a pair of lead changes, for a total of nine and six in the game, respectively.
 
Jois moved into second in school history in career scoring with his fifth double-double of the season and 31st of his career, finishing with 20 points and 10 rebounds. Senior graduate transfer Austin McBroom scored a team-high 22 points in his first meeting against the Griz, while Breunig finished with 26 points and Wright had 25.
 
Because of the new 12-team Big Sky scheduling that began last year with the addition of Idaho to the league, Saturday's game was the only regular-season meeting between the fierce rivals. The next time the teams could meet will be in the Big Sky Conference Tournament on March 8-12 in Reno, Nevada.
 
Coupled with an 85-71 loss to Montana State on Thursday, EWU has lost its last two after a three-game winning streak. The Eagles are still looking for its first road breakthrough of the conference season, and are perfect at home this year at 6-0 – the only remaining Big Sky team to be undefeated at home -- and 3-10 on the road.
 
 
 
Won-Lost Records . . .  
 
* The Eagles are now 9-10 overall and 3-4 in the league, with a perfect 3-0 mark at home and 0-4 record on the road. Eastern took care of business in wire-to-wire home victories over Idaho (74-60 on Jan. 9), Southern Utah (106-80 on Jan. 14) and Northern Arizona (96-73 on Jan. 16).
 
* The Grizzlies are 12-7 on the season and 7-1 in the Big Sky. Montana, the preseason favorite by the media to win the league title, won its first six league games, including four on the road.
 
 
 
What It Means . . .
 
* The next four games for EWU – home games against Portland State and Sacramento State, and road contests at Northern Arizona and Southern Utah – become critical in EWU's hopes of a top four finish in the league standings and a first-round bye in the Big Sky Conference Tournament. With both EWU and UM losing in their previous outings, the stage was set for an epic rematch of last year's league title tilt, a come-from-behind 69-65 Eagle win on UM's home court. Earlier in the 2014-15 season, Eastern beat Montana 75-69 as part of a 4-0 record at Dahlberg Arena.
 
 
 
What's Next . . .
 
* Eastern returns to Reese Court to face Portland State and Sacramento State. The Eagles take on the Vikings on Thursday, Jan. 28 at 6 p.m., then host the Hornets at 12:05 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 30. Portland State beat Sacramento State 81-63 in Sacramento on Saturday.
 
 
 
Keys to Game . . .
 
* Montana's Walter Wright entered the game as a 31 percent shooter from the 3-point stripe, with 21 treys in 18 games. However, he made 5-of-7 against the Eagles, while EWU made just 6-of-20 (30 percent) from the 3-point stripe. Montana entered the game as the league's top defensive team against the 3-point shot, holding opponents to 31.2 percent to rank 51st in NCAA Division I. Eastern was eighth nationally in 3-pointers per game (10.6) and 26th in percentage (39.3) before the UM game.
 
 
 
Top Performers . .
 
* Sophomore Bogdan Bliznyuk, who had a triple-double and double-double in his last two games, had just eight points before fouling out with 9:09 left to play. He played only 28 minutes and added three steals.
 
* Senior graduate transfer Austin McBroom finished with 22 points, making 7-of-18 shots overall and 3-of-8 from the 3-point stripe. He also sank all five of his free throws and had four assists.
 
* Senior Venky Jois made 9-of-13 shots from the field after entering the game third in NCAA Division I with a 68.2 percent accuracy rate. He also had 10 rebounds, three steals and a pair of assists as he finished with his 31st double-double of his career.
 
* Junior Julian Harrell added 12 points, making 3-of-6 from the field and 4-of-5 from the free throw line.
 
 
 
Turning Point . . .
 
* A basket by Venky Jois knotted the game at 63 with 4:32 to play, but EWU didn't get another field goal until the 1:40 mark when a basket by Jois cut into a five-point Grizzly lead. Montana sank a basket and three free throws to hold off the Eagles, who missed seven free throws in the last 5:45.
 
 
 
Key Stats . . .
 
* After making 41 percent of its shots in the first half, Eastern sank 54 percent after halftime to finish at 47 percent for the game. For the season, EWU is perfect at home (6-0) where it has made a blistering 56 percent of its shots from the field – including 45 percent from 3-point range. But on the road where they are now 3-10, the Eagles have made 46 percent from the field, and just 36 percent from the arc.
 
 
 
Team Highlights . . .
 
* Senior Venky Jois moved from fourth to second in career scoring during Saturday's game. A first-half dunk moved him past the 1,550 points of Irv Leifer (1942-47) and in the second half he moved past the 1,564 scored by former teammate Tyler Harvey. Jois now has 1,569 career points, but is well behind the school record of 1,741 held by Ron Cox (1974-77). Jois' school-record total of 218 blocked shots are 28 from the league record of 247 (Brian Qvale, Montana, 2008-11).
 
* After falling behind 13-3, Eastern eventually tied the game at 20 and used a basket at the buzzer by Venky Jois to pull within 32-28 at halftime. Jois made the first two baskets of the second half and a 3-pointer by Julian Harrell gave EWU a short-lived 35-34 lead. Montana pulled ahead again, but Eastern knotted the game at 48 and started a back-and-forth game in the final 11 minutes.
 
 
 
Notables . . .
 
* Proving how difficult it is to win on the road, Eastern led Montana for just 3:29 and two nights earlier led MSU for just 5:23. In its three-game homestand, EWU led 113:30 out of a total of 120 possible minutes, sank 57 percent of their shots (99-of-174) and had an average winning margin of 21.0 points per game. Eastern averaged 92 points per game while allowing an average of 71.
 
* In last season's Big Sky title game, Eastern out-scored Montana 21-6 in the final six minutes in the improbable 69-65 comeback victory in Missoula that advanced EWU to its second NCAA Tournament berth in school history. The Eagles trailed by 11 before the quartet of tournament MVP Tyler Harvey, senior Drew Brandon, all-tournament selection Venky Jois and sophomore Felix Von Hofe scored all 21 points in EWU's furious rally.
 
* Eastern is 20-49 against the Grizzlies since 1983-84, including a 9-27 record in Missoula, 11-20 in Cheney and 0-2 on neutral courts versus the Grizzlies, who lead the overall series 66-41. Until winning 75-69 on Feb. 4, 2015, the Eagles had lost their last 12 meetings in Missoula, dating back to a 71-52 Eagle win on Feb. 7, 2004. The Grizzlies returned the favor by handing Eastern a 77-76 home loss on Feb. 28, 2015.
 
* Since Eastern became a member of the Big Sky Conference in the 1987-88 season, the Eagles have played the Bobcats and Grizzlies in Cheney. But because of the new 12-team schedule format adopted last year, this is the rare year where the Eagles won't face their two long-time rivals at Reese Court. Eastern has hosted the Grizzlies at Reese Court every year since the 1986-87 season and the Bobcats since 1982-83.
 
 
 
More Comments from Head Coach Jim Hayford . . .
 
On Final Four Minutes: "We made one of our last six free throws and had a costly turnover, and you just can't come up with one point in four possessions in the last four minutes of the game. Wright was really good and Breunig was really good. Bogdan's foul trouble affected our defensive game plan a little bit on how we wanted to guard them. It was a great college basketball game. It was anybody's game with four to go."
 
On Venky Jois & Walter Wright: "Venky was really ready to compete. They got some drives off ball screens and Wright made some tough, tough shots that were barely over Venky's hand. Give him credit. I read that after the Idaho game the gym was closed down with just him and the janitors left. He was disappointed with his performance and shot for hours. Good for him – he responded to his adversity after Thursday night with a lot of character and played a really good game."
 
On Austin McBroom and Equal Match-Up of Teams: "Austin was 7-of-18 -- I think if this game was at home and not away, Austin would have shot a little better. Our big had a double-double, and their big was 26 and seven. They got good minutes from Dunn off the bench and we got good minutes from Sir off the bench. We didn't let Gfeller make threes and they didn't let Felix make threes. It was a very even game, and both teams know each other inside and out. It was a really good college basketball game and we were just on the wrong side of the final score."
 
On Upcoming Stretch of Games: "We need to go now and protect our home court – we are the only undefeated league team on our home court in league play. We want to finish the first half of the league season with a winning record, but that's easier said than done. Sacramento State and Portland State are really good teams. We'll then come up for air the next week and then try to go win on the road. What we have to learn how to do is win on the road – that's why we have to look ahead to that weekend. If we are going to win on the road it is going to be on that trip, and we have to pack our bags with a lot of resolve.  If we don't, we'll end up in the middle of this whole thing and have to hope for good luck in Reno. In these next four games it is time for our team to make or break our season in terms of having a winning record next to our name and go into the Big Sky Tournament as one of the top four teams. We'll do everything we can to coach and get our team ready for this. We just ask our fans to come out and support us really well Thursday and Saturday."
 
On EWU-Montana Rivalry: "A lot of credit goes to Montana and our team. I was a great college game. There was nothing to draw negatives on – it was just a really great game. I can remember coming into this gym in other seasons and we weren't competing down to the very end. We're doing our part now to make this a rivalry.
 
On EWU's Women Remaining Unbeaten in the League: "The story of the day is the Eastern women, who are doing awesome right now. Out congratulations goes to them for remaining undefeated with a great comeback against Montana. We want to do our part and join them in Reno and make it a great experience for Eastern fans. It's basketball season in Cheney and we have two good teams fans can get behind."