An 11-point lead over the No. 17 team in the nation was definitely something to build on.
 
The Eastern Washington University men's basketball had a 22-11 lead in the first half in its first-ever game against 17th-ranked Xavier, but the Musketeers -- No. 3 in the RPI -- roared back to beat the Eagles 85-56 Tuesday (Dec. 20) at the Cintas Center in Cincinnati, Ohio.
 
Eastern used an 11-0 run in the first half to forge its 11-point lead, including a trio of 3-pointers, and led for 11:05 in the first half, compared to just 4:50 for XU. However, what fueled Eastern's run was trumped by six 3-pointers by Xavier during a half-ending 22-2 run. The Musketeers led by as many as 29 in the second half and won for the 10th time in 12 games this season.
 
"We played a really good team tonight," said Eastern head coach Jim Hayford. "For about 17 minutes we really held our scouting report and defensively we were who we needed to be and kept them off-balance on offense."
 
The Musketeers ended up out-shooting Eastern 50 percent to 39 percent, and had just eight turnovers to EWU's 15. The Eagles, who entered ranked second in NCAA Division I in free throw shooting (.818) was an uncharacteristic 9-of-18 from the line, but did hold its own on the boards, getting nine offensive boards to Xavier's 10 and getting out-rebounded by just six overall.
 
Eastern, now 8-4, next plays at 9-3 Colorado on Thursday (Dec. 22) in a game televised by the Pac-12 Networks. The Buffaloes handed Xavier one of its two defeats this season (Baylor was the other), and have also defeated a Texas team the Eagles lost to. Eastern's three opponents during this current road stretch of three games in five nights have a current 27-8 record.
 
"We're going to get there and we're a work in progress," Hayford added. "We started two freshmen, and we got up by 11 against Xavier in their building. We have to take that and put it into a 40-minute performance."
 
 
Won-Lost Records . . .  
 
* The Eagles are now 8-4, still the best record in the Big Sky and still the school's best start in 34 years as a member of NCAA Division I.  Eastern entered the game with a league-best RPI of 67, and is now 7-0 at home and 1-4 on the road.
* The Musketeers are currently 10-2, and were ranked 17th in the nation by Associated Press for the second-straight week. They are a perfect 7-0 at home and entered the game No. 3 in the nation in RPI.
 
 
What It Means . . .
 
* The Eagles have one more non-league game before beginning Big Sky Conference play at Idaho on Dec. 30. The Eagles were picked to finish fifth by the media and seventh by the coaches in the league's preseason basketball polls released Oct. 14. Eastern knew it was going to be a difficult road trip to end the non-conference portion of its schedule, with the three opponents now combining for a 27-8 record. Xavier is 10-2, Colorado is 9-3 and Northern Kentucky improved to 8-3 after a 70-48 win over the Eagles on Dec. 18.
 
 
What's Next . . .
 
* The Eagles now plays a Colorado team currently 9-3 on the season, including a 68-66 win over Xavier and a 68-54 victory over Texas to their credit. Eastern has lot to both of those teams this season. The Buffaloes have also defeated Seattle and Louisiana-Monroe, two teams the Eagles are 3-0 this season against. That the EWU-Colorado game begins Thursday (Dec. 22) at 5:30 p.m. Pacific time in Boulder, Colo., in a game televised by the Pac-12 Networks.
 
 
Keys to Game . . .
 
* Just a 32 percent 3-point shooting team on the season, Xavier caught fire from the arc late in the first half. The Musketeers started just 1-of-8, but made its last six to finish 7-of-14 in the half. Xavier finished the game making 11-of-25 for 44 percent, while EWU sank 7-of-23 for 30 percent.
 
 
Top Performers . . .
 
* Senior graduate transfer Jacob Wiley led Eastern with 16 points, six rebounds and five blocked shots.
* Junior Bogdan Bliznyuk scored eight points, but was held to just seven shots from the field. He entered the game averaging 15.8 per game, to go along with a 21.7 scoring average which ranked 20th in NCAA Division I. He also entered 27th nationally in free throw percentage (.906) and made both of his attempts.
* Senior Felix Von Hofe hit a trio of 3-pointers and finished with nine points. He entered the game ranked 27th in NCAA Division I with an average of 3.27 3-pointers per game, helping EWU rank 61st as a team (9.1).
* True freshman Mason Peatling made the first start of his career and finished with three points, two rebounds and a blocked shot in 16 minutes of action.
* Sophomore Ty Gibson came off the bench to score six points with a pair of 3-pointers in seven minutes of action.
 
 
Turning Point . . .
 
* Eastern was magnificent early, with Mason Peatling igniting Eastern's early 11-0 run with a 3-pointer. Jacob Wiley followed with a basket, then 3-pointers by Cody Benzel and Felix Von Hofe gave EWU a 22-11 lead with 11:07 to play. A basket by Bogdan Bliznyuk and a pair by Luka Vulikic helped EWU lead 28-24 with 4:37 to play, but the Musketeers followed with their 22-2 run and took a 46-30 lead at intermission.
 
 
Key Stats . . .
 
* Eastern finished with six blocked shots, including five by Eagle senior Jacob Wiley. He entered the game with an average of 3.1 per game to lead the Big Sky by double the next player (1.5), and entered ranked 10th in NCAA Division I. As a team, Eastern was 28th nationally with an average of 5.5 per game. Wiley is also 40th nationally in field goal percentage (58.3 percent) and 42nd in free throw percentage (88.6 percent), and finished the Xavier game 6-of-10 from the field and 4-of-6 from the line.
 
 
Team Highlights . . .
 
* The Eagles are guaranteed to be just the fifth Eastern team in 30 years as a Big Sky Conference member to enter league play with a winning record. The 2014-15 NCAA Tournament team had the best record entering league play at 9-4, with the 2006-07 (7-6), 2002-03 (8-6) and 1997-98 (6-4) squads also having winning marks. EWU's 8-4 record equals the best 12-game start in EWU's 34 years in NCAA Division I, tied with two squads. Included is the 2014-15 team, also coached by Hayford, which 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 and 9-4 before going 14-4 in league play. The 1985-86 team was also 8-4, and was 9-4 after 13 games before finishing 20-8 on the season. This year's Eagles were just the sixth team in 34 years to start 5-2 or better, including three seasons under Hayford.
 
 
Notables . . .
 
* The Eagles are finding a way to win games, and have already set a school record with six extra periods this season. During its seven-game winning streak, six of the victories came by six points or less. 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. Eastern's seventh win in the streak was an 88-86 overtime victory over Morehead State in which the Eagles missed all 13 of its 3-point shots after intermission. 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
 
 
 
More Comments from Head Coach Jim Hayford . . .
 
On Work Ahead: "Our focus has to be to take the Eastern team that showed itself for the first 17 minutes and pull that team out and do it for 40 minutes in Big Sky play. For us to do that against a team like Xavier for 17 minutes in this environment, we're going to be okay. Unfortunately, they shot it crazy good. That's as good as they've shot the ball from three the entire year. Then it got away from us and they are good."
 
On Free Throw & 3-Point Shooting: "We're not a 50 percent shooting team – their lead in this game should have been 17 or 18 points. We made three of our last 17 3-pointers, so when you aren't making your threes and are 50 percent from the line, the game is going to separate."
 
On Positives: "There are some winning numbers – Jacob was 60 percent from field, Luka played 30 minutes with one turnover at Xavier as a freshman point guard. Ty in the second half made both his threes and that was solid. When Cody came in the game and made his first three, that was a winning play. I thought Jesse Hunt played fearless and Geremy McKay played hard. We just have to put it all together, but you can't follow good things with three mistakes. We did waste about 20 minutes of this game where we should have, if nothing else, just competed."
 
On Colorado Game: "It's going to be a great challenge and we're looking forward to the next one. People may say it's tiring with three games in five days and more travel. But nope, we're going to use it to improve and try to get a signature victory for our team, our league and our school. We want to head into Christmas with a big positive. We can get better from the Xavier game."