The Eastern Washington University men's basketball team returned to nail-biting mode.
 
Featuring two big defensive stops that led to scores at the end of overtime, the Eastern Washington University men's basketball team extended its winning streak to seven games by edging Morehead State 88-86 Tuesday (Dec. 13) in a non-conference game at Reese Court in Cheney, Wash.
 
Now a Big Sky Conference-best 8-2 on the season, a steal by senior graduate transfer Jacob Wiley led to basket on the other end to give EWU a three-point lead with 36 seconds to play. After another defensive stop, his two free throws with 12 seconds left clinched the win.
 
"Our team really loves one another – we have a really close-knit group and they really like playing together," said Eastern head coach Jim Hayford. "That's why we keep playing overtimes, they just can't get enough and want to keep playing longer and longer.
 
Eastern has already set a school record for overtime periods in a single season with six, breaking the previous record of five in 1998-99.
 
"There was a sense in our huddle going into overtime that we were going to win – we win in overtime," Hayford said. "But you have to go do it. We put together a stop and two scores together, got the lead and never relented. I'm just really proud and happy for our guys."
 
Junior Bogdan Bliznyuk scored a career-high 34 points for the Eagles, including 22 in the first half. Wiley finished with a double-double with 12 points and 12 rebounds.
 
"You can't say enough about Bogdan and his 30-point games," said Hayford. "They are becoming something that you just expect. Jake only had three rebounds in the first half, but finished with a double-double with 12 and 12. That was a really good rebounding team – they had 18 offensive boards and Jake had just enough to keep us there."
 
 
Won-Lost Records . . .  
 
* The Eagles, who extended their winning streak to seven games, are now 8-2. Prior to a 103-76 romp past Great Falls on Dec. 4, the previous five victories in the winning streak were all nail-biters won by six points or less – including a pair of double-overtime victories over Seattle and other OT victory against Denver.
* Morehead State is 3-6, having lost its seventh-straight game in the first-ever meeting against EWU. Also nicknamed the Eagles, MSU was 23-14 a year ago and advanced to the title series of the College Basketball Invitational which Eastern also participated in. Morehead State lost in three games for the title to Nevada, which ended EWU's season last year with an 85-70 victory in Reno in the quarterfinals of the CBI. The two teams were supposed to play last Dec. 17, but travel conditions didn't allow MSU to make the trip.
 
What It Means . . .
 
* With three difficult road games looming, Eastern is a perfect 7-0 at home this season. As a result of the early success, the Eagles are the top team in the Big Sky Conference with an RPI of 57 (season high on 12/13 in the official NCAA RPI ratings). Plus, the Eagles received 10 votes this week in the Collegeinsider.com Mid-Major top 25. In addition, Eastern has the best non-conference record among the 12 Big Sky Conference schools at 8-2, followed by North Dakota at 5-3.
 
 
What's Next . . .
 
* The Eagles now take on a team they've played just once in school history when Eastern plays at Northern Kentucky on Sunday (Dec. 18). Following that game, Eastern plays at 17th-ranked Xavier, which is currently 8-2 heading into a game this Saturday (Dec. 17) versus Wake Forest.
 
 
Keys to Game . . .
 
* Eastern found a way to win despite missing all 13 of its 3-point shots in the second half and overtime. It held Morehead State to 43 percent shooting in the second half and 33 percent in OT, and was out-rebounded just 25-22 after getting out-boarded by six in the first half.
 
 
Top Performers . . .
 
* Junior Bogdan Bliznyuk had his fourth performance of the season with 30 points or more, scoring 34 on 13-of-19 shooting from the field and 7-of-10 from the free throw line. He eclipsed his previous career high of 32 set versus San Francisco and Bryant earlier this year. Bliznyuk also had a team-high five assists. After nine games, Bliznyuk was ranked in the top seven in four different statistical categories in the league, ranking third in points (21.4 per game), seventh in rebounds (6.9), fourth in assists (4.6) and first in free throw percentage (.951). He entered the MSU game ranked 24th nationally in scoring and 10th in free throw percentage.
* Senior graduate transfer Jacob Wiley had a double-double with 12 points and 12 rebounds, with all but two points and three boards coming after intermission. He sank 4-of-6 shots from the field and all four of his free throws, and also had three blocked shots. He entered the game averaging 13.9 points, 6.8 rebounds, 3.2 blocked shots and 2.1 assists per game, while making 59.2 percent from the field. He entered the MSU game leading the Big Sky in blocked shots per game by double the next player (1.6), and is ranked eighth in NCAA Division I. As a team, Eastern was 33rd nationally with an average of 5.7 per game.
* Senior Felix Von Hofe scored 12 of his 15 points in the first half, and finished 3-of-14 from the field overall and 3-of-13 from the 3-point stripe. Von Hofe entered the game 14th in NCAA Division I with an average of 3.56 3-pointers per game, helping EWU rank 22nd as a team in makes per game (9.9) and 42nd in percentage (39.7).
* Junior Sir Washington was the fourth Eagle in double figures, making 3-of-5 shots from the field and 4-of-5 free throws to finish with 10 points.
 
 
Turning Point . . .
* Trailing by two in overtime, a basket by Bogdan Bliznyuk, two free throws by Jacob Wiley and a single charity shot by Sir Washington gave the Eagles the lead for good at 84-83. A steal by Wiley was then followed by his basket on the other end on an assist by Washington and a three-point lead. Then after another MSU miss, Wiley clinched the win with a pair of free throws with 12 ticks of the clock remaining.
 
 
Key Stats . . .
 
* Trailing 11-6 in the early going, Eastern caught fire for a 6:15 stretch and out-scored MSU 23-7 to take a 29-18 advantage with 9:06 left. Eastern hit five 3-pointers during the run, including two each by Felix Von Hofe and Cody Benzel. The Eagles led 47-38 at halftime, with Bliznyuk leading the way with 22 points. Eastern had a similar stretch in the second half with a 6-of-7 shooting stretch to open a 70-60 lead. The Eagles led 74-63 with 6:41 to play before a 12-1 Morehead State run knotted the game at 75. A miss at the end of regulation by MSU sent the game into overtime.
 
 
Team Highlights . . .
 
* Only the NCAA Tournament team of 2014-15 has had a better start than in 34 years in NCAA Division I. Also coached by Jim Hayford, that team opened the year 8-1 and finished 26-9 after advancing to Eastern's second NCAA Tournament in school history. That squad lost its next three and were 8-4 at one point before going 14-4 in league play. This year's Eagles were just the sixth team in 34 years to start 5-2 or better, including three under Hayford.
 
* Felix Von Hofe had three 3-pointers to go past the 200 mark in his career, with a current total of 201. He recently moved past the 184 of Marc Axton (2002-05) and is now nine from the No. 2 position (210, Parker Kelly 2012-15). Von Hofe is 59 from the record set by his former teammate Tyler Harvey from 2013-15 with 260.
 
 
Notables . . .
 
* The Eagles are finding a way to win games, and have already set a school record with six extra periods this season. Eastern defeated Seattle 80-76 in double overtime on Nov. 22 and then beat Denver in its next game in overtime by an 85-80 score. Two games later, the Eagles played at Seattle in another double-overtime thriller, winning 93-88. The only other time Eastern has played five overtime periods in a single year came in the 1998-99 season when Eastern had four in a 101-100 loss to Weber State on Jan. 16, 1993. The Eagles had no overtime games last season, two in 2014-15, one in 2013-14 and four in 2012-13
 
* A big reason why EWU is 7-0 this season in games decided by six points or less is the team's clutch free throw shooting. Eastern made 21-of-27 for 78 percent against Morehead State. Prior to that, Eastern had made 83.7 percent to rank second in the nation behind Notre Dame at 86.4 percent. Bogdan Bliznyuk was 12th nationally at 95.1 percent (35-of-39), with Jacob Wiley 42nd at 89.7 percent (35-of-39). Felix Von Hofe was not ranked, but entered the game 17-of-20 thus far (85.0 percent).
 
 
More Comments from Head Coach Jim Hayford . . .
 
On Victory: "This was a really good win. If you would have asked if our team could go 0-of-13 in the second half and still win a game, I would have said that was going to take a lot of growth. As many people know, our team has kind of lived and died by the three. But we held them to 42 percent from the field, and maybe a lot of coaches aren't proud of that number. It was 33 percent in overtime. We just kind of gritted it out and executed our way through it. We had a few turnovers and missed some free throws that we had been making, and that's why it went to overtime. Credit them, they hit made some really good shots.
 
On Morehead State: "They are really hard to guard – they are an athletically superior team and put together well. They might be in a little disarray, but they are coming out of that. Give a lot of credit to Morehead State. I'm just really proud of our team for kind of holding onto their leg and guarding them, and finding a way to win."
 
On MSU Comeback: "We missed our free throws and had a few turnovers. I think that will help us learn that when you have an 8-10 point lead you can't let it wither away. That was a little uncharacteristic of us. But we hung in there."
 
On Jacob Wiley: "He's kind of been a more second half and overtime player all year. It's just him getting more and more comfortable. He's a really good player and he has great heart and great passion. It's going to all come together for him."