The third time was the charm for first-year Eastern head coach Shantay Legans.
 
In just the third game of Legans' short head coaching career, the Eastern Washington University men's basketball team pulled off one of the biggest victories in school history by beating Stanford 67-61 Tuesday (Nov. 14) at famed Maples Pavilion in Stanford, Calif.
 
In the first-ever meeting between the two schools, Eastern made 11-of-25 3-point field goals compared to just 2-of-16 by the Cardinal. Runs of 12-0  before halftime and 9-0 after intermission helped the Eagles take the lead for good in the first half and hold a double-digit lead for most of the second half. Eastern made 8-of-14 free throws in the last 1:14 to survive a comeback attempt by the Cardinal and snap a 21-game losing streak versus Pac-12 opponents.
 
"It's amazing," said Legans, who formerly played at Cal, a rival of Stanford's. "Our guys deserve it. They came out and played the same way we did against UW, but we shot the ball better, even though the free throws still didn't fall. They came back and our coaches did a great job getting them prepared and ready. Our team is gritty and are a great bunch of guys. We have some terrific young men in our program, and our coaching staff did such a great job tonight. I'm so proud of these guys – coaches as well."
 
Senior Bogdan Bliznyuk scored 23 points to lead the Eagles in scoring, and had five rebounds and a pair of assists. Sophomore Ty Gibson sparked Eastern in the first half with 11 points, Jesse Hunt finished with 10 with eight boards and true freshman Jack Perry came off the bench to score seven.
 
It was the third game in five nights for both schools, but Eastern's last two were on the road and Stanford played all three of its games at home. Both teams are now 2-1 on the season.
 
"I was a Cal Bear and I never won in this gym," Legans added. "It is a great feeling to beat Stanford at Stanford. I am so happy our guys came out and played the way they played. I grew up at a Cal Bear fan and I can tell you it is a great feeling to win here."
 
The last Eastern win against a Pac-12 foe came back on Dec. 14, 2002, in a 62-58 win over Washington. Eastern has also registered victories over 10th-ranked Saint Joseph's in 2001 by a 68-57 score and Indiana 88-86 in the 2014-15 season. The victory over Indiana came in a season in which EWU beat Montana in the Big Sky Conference Championship game and advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the second time in school history.
 
Eastern continues its challenging stretch of road games by playing at UNLV on Friday (Nov. 17) at 7 p.m. Pacific time at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. That game is part of the "undercard" schedule for the fourth-annual MGM Resorts Main Event, which will take place Nov. 20-22 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
 
 
Records . . .
 
* The Eagles are now 2-1 on the season after beating a Pac-12 Conference opponent for the first time since 2002. The Eagles fell at Washington 79-69 on Sunday (Nov. 12) after beating Walla Walla 82-61 on Friday (Nov. 10). The Eagles are coming off a third-straight appearance in a national postseason tournament, and were 22-12 overall a year ago. Eastern finished 13-5 in the Big Sky to finish second behind regular season champion North Dakota, and then the Eagles advanced to the semifinals of the league tournament.
 
* Now 2-1, Stanford was coming off an 89-80 win over Pacific on Sunday (Nov. 12) and winning two days earlier by a 78-62 score against Cal Poly. Stanford was 6-12 in the Pac-12 and 14-17 overall a year ago.
 
 
What it Means . . .
 
* Since Eastern moved to NCAA Division I in the 1983-84 season, EWU is now 3-40 against the Pac-12 Conference after snapping its 21-game losing streak versus the Pac-12. Entering this year, Eastern has never played Utah, Arizona State or Stanford. Besides falling to Washington 79-69 on Nov. 12, 2017, the Eagles lost to Colorado 76-68 on Dec. 22, 2016. It had been two years since Eastern had played a current member of league, having fell at Cal 78-67 on Dec. 19, 2014. Coupled with an 11-55 record versus Washington State, 1-14 mark versus Washington and a 0-14 record against other current members of the Pac-12, the Eagles have a 13-83 record all-time against that league.
 
 
What's Next . . .
 
* Eastern returns to action on Friday (Nov. 17) against UNLV, which is 1-0 heading into its game Wednesday (Nov. 15) versus Prairie View A&M. The Rebels beat Florida A&M 108-66 on Nov. 11, with 7-foot, 250-pound freshman Brandon McCoy finishing with 25 points and 18 rebounds. Jovan Mooring and Shakur Juiston added 20 and 19 points, respectively.
 
 
Keys to Game . . .
 
* Eastern didn't succumb to the pressure of leading a Pac-12 team on the road, and the 3-point shot was Eastern's friend down the stretch. True freshman Jack Perry hit treys with 11:10 and 8:04 left in the second half to spark an 8-2 Eagle run, then Sir Washington hit one with 5:18 to play to keep EWU's lead at 10. The Eagles made eight free throws in the final minute of the game, but also missed six in the last 1:12 to keep Stanford's hopes alive. Bogdan Bliznyuk sealed it by making all four of his in the last 10 seconds.
 
 
Turning Point . . .
 
* Eastern had a 12-0 run in the first half and 9-0 run in the second half that propelled them to the win. In the run before intermission, Ty Gibson had a pair of 3-pointers and another basket to score eight of EWU's points. A 3-pointer by Bogdan Bliznyuk with 9:52 left during the run gave Eastern the lead for good. Eastern led 19-13 with 8:13 left and 33-27 at halftime. After intermission, Eastern led just 33-31 before a 3-pointer by Benas Griciunas and a pair of 3-point plays by Bliznyuk gave EWU a 42-31 advantage with 17:35 to play.
 
 
Top Performers . . .
 
* Senior Bogdan Bliznyuk, a candidate for Big Sky Conference Player of the Year honors, and 6-of-12 shots from the field and 9-of-10 from the free throw line to finish with a game-high 23 points. He also had five rebounds and a pair of assists.
* Junior Ty Gibson, who along with Bliznyuk is serving as a team co-captain this season, scored 11 points on 4-of-7 shooting from the field. He made 3-of-6 from the 3-point stripe, including a 3-of-4 performance in the first half.
* Junior Jesse Hunt made 4-of-7 shots from the field to finish with 10 points and eight rebounds.
* Sophomore Luka Vulikic chipped in six points and four rebounds.
* Seven-foot graduate transfer Benas Griciunas had his first double-figure rebounding performance as an Eagle with 10, and also chipped in six points.
* True freshman Jack Perry played 14 minutes and contributed seven points with a pair of 3-pointers.
 
 
Key Stats . . .
 
* Eastern was just 8-of-24 from the 3-point stripe against Washington two nights earlier, but went 11-of-25 from the arc versus Stanford. Ty Gibson sank three in the first half, and Bogdan Bliznyuk, Jesse Hunt and Jack Perry each hit a pair. Stanford was just 2-of-16 in the game, including 1-of-7 in the first half and 1-of-9 in the second half.
 
 
Other Team Highlights . . .
 
* Eastern's defense did its part as well, holding the Cardinal without a field goal from 6:35 to 1:56 in the second half during an 0-of-6 stretch for Stanford. For the game, Stanford made just 33.9 percent of its shots compared to 38.6 percent for the Eagles. Stanford had a slight 45-41 rebounding advantage, and also had three less turnovers than EWU.
 
 
Notables . . .
 
* The Eagles are in the midst of a stretch of 36-straight days without a home game – one of just four NCAA Division I teams with such a road stretch this year. Eastern will continue its road trip with four games – three of them played in Las Vegas and the other at Utah -- before returning home on Nov. 25. Then there are four more games before a pair of pre-Christmas home games. The first leg of EWU's road stretch includes 4,432 airline miles, while the other trips in the road stretch will include 6,408 miles. That's a total of 10,840 air miles, not including ground travel.
 
 
Comments from Head Coach Shantay Legans . . .
 
On Game Plan: "Our players understood exactly what they needed to do. We have some great leaders on this team. They did a great job and our coaches put them in the right position. They did everything we asked except make free throws at the end of the game. We told Bogdan they were going to double him early and he needed to make plays in the second half, and he did. Sir had a so-so first half, but he came out and hit a huge 3-pointer."
 
On Believing in Each Other: "There were things in that game where you saw in our team that they believe in each other. We talk about family, trust and commitment every single day. They did a great job in coming in here and believed in what we wanted to do."
 
On Win Over Pac-12 Opponent: "It does a lot for our program – until we play UNLV in our next game. We are going to enjoy it and have a good time. It was a huge win for our program and a great win for our school -- it gives us a little notoriety. It's a great time to be an Eagle. We have everything rolling at Eastern. We're really excited about this win and the whole program."
 
On Buy-In by Team: "Everybody has to buy-in and everybody has to believe. I told our players we'll have to play through a lot of things in this game, including their coach on the sideline – I tend to get a little into it. I told them not to worry about me, I was just going crazy over some of the plays (Stanford) was making offensively. At the same time, our team came back and let their team defense do the talking. Our offense won't always travel, but our defensive effort has to. Our coaching staff got those guys ready, fired up and ready to go today."