­­­­­­­Eastern Washington University "Eagles" Men's Basketball (3-4/0-0 Big Sky) Dec. 3 – at Seattle, 1 p.m., Seattle (KeyArena) Dec. 7 – at San Francisco, 7 p.m., San Francisco, Calif. all times Pacific
Radio:	700-AM ESPN & 105.3-FM in the Spokane/Cheney area. Larry Weir calls the play-by-play. Broadcasts begin a half-hour prior to tipoff
Internet Radio:	http://www.tunein.com  (search for Eastern Washington University)
Radio  Mobile Phone App:	Via tunein radio
TV:	None
­­­Webcast:	http://wacsports.com/watch/?Live=627 for Seattle game; All EWU home games and all Big Sky Conference games available via Pluto TV and http://watchbigsky.com
Live Stats:	http://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=192946 for Seattle game; http://ewustats.com for all EWU home games.
Weekly Coaches Show:	To be announced.

The Eastern Washington University men's basketball team wants to treat its next outing like just another game on the schedule, but it will be hard to overlook who is on the opposing sideline.
 
The Eagles will have a much-needed week of practice at home in Cheney, Wash., before playing at Seattle on Sunday (Dec. 3) at 1 p.m. at KeyArena. The 3-4 Eagles will face former EWU head coach Jim Hayford, whose first Redhawks team is 2-4 after falling to Washington 89-84 last Friday (Nov. 24).
 
The game will be carried live on 700-AM ESPN and 105.3-FM in the Spokane/Cheney area, with Larry Weir calling the play-by-play. Broadcasts begin a half-hour prior to tipoff and may also be heard via http://www.tunein.com (search for Eastern Washington University). A mobile phone app is also available via tunein radio.
 
"We can't look forward to anything else besides our next game," said Eastern head coach Shantay Legans, who served as an assistant during Hayford's six seasons at EWU. "It's going to be exciting, but we could be playing anybody. We just want to go out and perform like we should."
 
Seattle will host Idaho State on Nov. 27 at Key Arena and Kennesaw State at the Connolly Complex on the SU campus before taking on the Eagles.  The associate head coach for the Redhawks is former Eastern assistant Chris Victor, and the team has five players averaging in double figures through six games. Seattle is averaging 81.5 points and more than 10 3-pointers made per game on an average of nearly 30 attempts per game – both trademarks of Hayford-coached teams.
 
"They are a good team," Legans said. "They took UW down to the last few minutes and have played some good games. They also had Washington State on the ropes in Pullman. We're looking forward to the test and our guys are excited."
 
Eastern fell to the Huskies on Nov. 12 by a 79-69 score to begin a 14-night/15-day road trip which concluded last Saturday (Nov. 25) when the Eagles finally returned to Cheney. The highlight of the trip was EWU's 67-61 victory over Stanford on Nov. 14 in EWU's first win over a Pac-12 opponent since 2002.
 
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. The Seattle game starts a stretch of four more road 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.
 
"It's important to get them some rest and get off their legs," said Legans of the week ahead. "They'll get some school work done and mentally it will just let them recover from the road trip. Our guys are gym rats and we'll get into our own gym and work on our shooting. It's going to help us toward the end of the season. I'm looking forward to see where we are come March in our league tournament."
 
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.
 
 
 

Game Notes

 
Balanced Minutes and Balanced Scoring is Key During Grueling Stretch
 
To survive the early-season gauntlet of playing seven games in a 15-day span, Eastern head coach Shantay Legans has gone to his bench often. For the season, Eastern is averaging 31.3 points per game from its bench (219 total), compared to an average of 18.3 by its opponents (128 total). Nine Eagles are averaging between 14.0 and 29.7 minutes per game, and two others are each averaging at least 7.0. For the season, Bogdan Bliznyuk is averaging 15.6 points per game, but six others are averaging between 5.6 and 9.2.
 
Against Eastern Kentucky on Nov. 22, a total of 10 Eagles played at least 13 minutes, with a total of 12 players seeing action. All but three of them scored. Nine Eagles played at least 13 minutes in the next game versus Utah, with eight players scoring.
 
The Eagles routed Eastern Kentucky by 21, jumping out to a 19-point lead in the first half and leading 39-16 at intermission. Eastern led by as many as 28 in the second half and no less than 19 in the final minutes in the 83-62 win. That helped give EWU a 39-point turnaround in two games, having lost to Georgia State by 18 points two days earlier on Nov. 20 in its MGM Resorts Main Event opener.
 
 
Legans Expects Shooting Touch to Improve as Season Progresses
 
The Eagles are shooting at below 40 percent for the season, at 39.8 percent overall and 31.3 percent from the 3-point stripe – marks Shantay Legans vows will improve as the season goes on. But the good news is that Eastern is holding opponents to 42.3 shooting overall and 35.4 from the 3-point stripe. As a result, Eastern is just 11th in the Big Sky Conference in field goal percentage, but is fifth in the league defensively. The Eagles are 3-0 when they out-shoot their opponents and 0-4 when they don't.
 
Big Sky Conference Player of the Year candidate Bogdan Bliznyuk is shooting at a 41.7 percent rate, and three other starters are at 32.3 percent (Mason Peatling), 31.7 percent (Benas Griciunas) and 31.0 percent (Sir Washington). One of the team's top long-range shooters, Ty Gibson, has made only 33.3 percent of his 3-pointers and 35.7 percent overall.
 
 "We have good shooters, but we have gone up against some good competition," said Legans. "This is building toward the future for us. We could have scheduled other teams and our stats would look beautiful. But we took a test when we came on the road, and I thought we did a good job. We're 3-4 with one of the hardest schedules in the country. I'll take that all day. But we have to keep getting better and make some of these shots."
 
On another positive note, redshirt freshman Jacob Davison has shot at a 48.4 percent clip thus far, making 5-of-13 3-pointers (38.5 percent). He's coming off a 13-point performance against Utah, and now has scored all 53 of his points this season in EWU's last four games. It was his third double-figure scoring performance in four games -- he came off the bench to score 20 against Georgia State on Nov 20, and had 11 one game earlier versus UNLV.
 
 
Graduate Transfer Griciunas Scores Collegiate Best 16 Versus Colonels
 
Eastern's eight newcomers this season include Lithuanian seven-footer Benas Griciunas, a graduate transfer who came to EWU with 59 games of NCAA Division I experience. He had his first double-figure scoring performance as an Eagle with 16 points on 7-of-10 shooting from the field in EWU's 83-62 win over Eastern Kentucky on Nov. 22. His best scoring performance while at UNC Charlotte was 14 points and his best as a freshman at Auburn was eight. He had 12 rebounds once while playing for the 49ers.
 
He unofficially opened his Eastern career by scoring 18 points on 6-of-13 shooting from the field in EWU's exhibition victory over Portland on Oct. 29. He had a trio of 3-pointers and also had nine rebounds. He followed that with four points, five rebounds and two blocked shots in his Eagle official Eagle debut on Nov. 10 against Walla Walla.
 
A total of 13 Eagles played in EWU's opener versus Walla Walla, and Griciunas was one of four newcomers to see action. The others were redshirt freshman Jacob Davison and true freshmen Richard Polanco and Jack Perry. Brendan Howard, Kim Aiken Jr., and Tanner Groves sat out the game as potential redshirts, and have yet to play in the 2017-18 season.
 
 
6-foot-6 Point-Forward Bogdan Bliznyuk Climbing Career Scoring Chart -- 13 Points From No. 4
 
Led by Big Sky Conference Player of the Year candidate Bogdan Bliznyuk, the Eagles feature a team with size throughout their lineup. They were bolstered by the addition of 7-footer Benas Griciunas, a senior graduate transfer from UNC Charlotte.
 
A 6-foot-6 point-forward, Bliznyuk was named to the preseason All-Big Sky team, and is one of 10 returning players to the Eagle roster. The Eagles return eight letterwinners from last year, including a trio of returning starters -- Bliznyuk, Mason Peatling and Luka Vulikic. The others are Cody Benzel, Grant Gibb, Ty Gibson, Jesse Hunt and Sir Washington, with Jacob Davison and Joshua Thomas returning as a 2016-17 redshirts.
 
Although his field goal shooting has been shaky, Bliznyuk is off to a great start. He's made 41.7 percent of his field goals and 86.0 percent of his free throws to average 15.6 points through seven games. He is also averaging 4.9 rebounds and 2.3 assists. On Nov. 8, Bliznyuk was selected to the Lou Henson Award preseason Watch List by Colllegeinsider.com. The award is presented annually to the nation's top Division I mid-major player, and the initial watch list featured 51 players from across the country.
 
In 110 career games (15th in school history), Bliznyuk is the 20th Eagle to join the 1,000-point club, currently ranking fifth with 1,537 points, passing 10-year NBA veteran Rodney Stuckey (1,438 points from 2006-07) in EWU's first game of the season, and then Dave Hayden (1,461 points from 1970-73) against Washington. He is just 13 points from Irv Leifer (1,550 from 1942-47), who held the record for 30 years after playing for EWU from 1942-47. Bliznyuk entered his senior season in 2017-18 needing just 375 points to break EWU's all-time mark of 1,803 points set by Venky Jois from 2013-16. In addition, if Bliznyuk plays 18 more games he will equal the record of 128 set by his former teammate Felix Von Hofe from 2014-17.
 
Bliznyuk concluded his junior season with 701 points, becoming just the fourth player in school history to hit that mark (Jake Wiley, a senior on the 2017-18 squad, ranks fifth in school history with 694). A senior, Bliznyuk was a second team All-Big Sky Conference selection a year ago, and was the league's Freshman of the Year in 2014-15. He also earned second team All-District 6 honors from the National Association of Basketball Coaches. He is formerly from Lutsk, Ukraine, and graduated from Todd Beamer High School in Federal Way, Wash., in 2014.
 
 The Eagles finished the season with five Big Sky Conference records and 14 EWU marks, most broken as the result of EWU's 130-124 triple-overtime victory over Portland State on Feb. 4. Wiley and Bliznyuk set the most intriguing record when both scored a school-record 45 points in that game versus the Vikings.
 
 
Home Games Will be Cherished in 2017 Preseason
 
With just three home games in the preseason, the first season at the helm will be road-heavy and a challenging one for Shantay Legans and his team. Eastern will play eight opponents who played in national postseason tournaments last season, including five in the non-conference portion of EWU's schedule.
 
Three Pac-12 Conference opponents and a stretch of 36-straight days without a game at home are the task ahead. Three other teams in NCAA Division I will also have such a streak:
39 – Penn (Nov. 18 vs. PSU-Brandywine; Dec. 27 vs. Delaware State)
39 – Harvard (Nov. 12 vs. UMass; Dec. 21 vs. Boston University)
37 – New Mexico State (Dec. 12 vs. vs. Eastern New Mexico, Jan. 18 vs. Seattle U.)
36 – Eastern Washington (Nov. 10 vs. Walla Walla; Dec. 17 vs. CSU-Northridge)
 
After opening the season at Reese Court on Nov. 10 against Walla Walla in the debut of Legans' head coaching career, the Eagles began a stretch of 10-straight games. The Eagles played a trio of Pac-12 foes (Washington, Stanford and Utah) during a 15-day stretch away from campus from Nov. 11 to Nov. 25. The next stretch of road games features contests at Seattle, San Francisco, South Dakota and Wyoming. That's a total of six states visited in the team's first 11 games of the season.
 
Utah and South Dakota advanced to the National Invitation Tournament (NIT), Georgia State advanced to the College Insider Tournament (CIT) and San Francisco and Wyoming joined EWU in the College Basketball Invitational (CBI). The other three postseason opponents came from the Big Sky Conference – North Dakota in the NCAA Tournament and Idaho and Weber State in the CIT.
 
In all, Eastern will play teams from 10 different conferences, with all but two of its games versus NCAA Division I opposition. Seven opponents won at least 20 games a year ago – Georgia State, Utah, San Francisco, South Dakota, Wyoming, North Dakota and Weber State.
 
 
In Just Third Game as Head Coach, Former Cal Bear Shantay Legans Gets First Win at Maples
 
Not only did the EWU basketball program get a win over a Pac-12 opponent that was a long time coming, but first-year head coach Shantay Legans got some personal gratification from EWU's 67-61 victory versus Stanford at Maples Pavilion. While playing for California for three seasons from 2000-03, he was a part of Bear teams which lost five-straight times to the nationally-ranked Cardinal, including three stompings at Stanford.
 
As a freshman in 2000-01, Cal lost at home 81-70 to No. 3 Stanford, then lost on the road 101-50 to the second-ranked Cardinal. The next season, Stanford was No. 1 in the nation and beat Cal 84-58 at Maples Pavilion, then was No. 2 when it beat the Bears 88-56 in Berkeley. In his final season at Cal in the 2002-03 season, Legans lost at Stanford 82-62 before winning 68-54 at home. In both of those games, Stanford was ranked 12th. Interestingly, his coach at Cal at the time – Ben Braun – was the analyst on the Pac-12 Networks television broadcast of EWU's upset of Stanford.
 
"I was a Cal Bear and I never won in this gym," said Legans after the victory. "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."
 
Also in his junior season, Legans scored five points and had an assist in a 56-27 stomping over Eastern in the championship game of the BCA Classic in Berkeley. One night earlier, in EWU's season-opener to begin the second year under head coach Ray Giacoletti, the Eagles picked up their first and only victory against a ranked NCAA Division I opponent in school history when they knocked off No. 10 Saint Joseph's 68-57. Eastern is now 1-24 versus ranked teams in school history.
 
Just over a year after that victory, Eastern upset Washington 62-58 in Seattle when Alvin Snow – now agent for former Eagle and current Brooklyn Net Jacob Wiley – had 24 points and seven steals against the Huskies. That victory on Dec. 14, 2002, was Eastern's last victory over a Pac-12 opponent until EWU knocked off Stanford to snap a 21-game losing streak against teams from that conference. Overall, EWU is now 13-84 against the Pac-12, including a 3-42 mark since becoming a member of NCAA Division I in the 1983-84 season.
 
Eastern had two other epic victories that Legans was a part of in the 2014-15 season. Eastern's heart-stopping 88-86 victory at Big Ten Conference member Indiana on Nov. 24, 2014, snapped the nation's third-longest non-conference home court winning streak at 43 in front of 11,636 Hoosier fans at Assembly Hall in Bloomington, Ind. It was the first-ever win for the Eagles in 14 tries against a Big Ten Conference opponent and was the first Big Sky win on a Big Ten home court.
 
Later that same season, the Eagles advanced to their second NCAA Tournament in school history with a trio of victories in Missoula, Montana. Included was a 69-65 title game victory over Montana when Eastern out-scored the Grizzlies 21-6 in the final six minutes for the improbable comeback victory. The Eagles trailed by 11 before the furious rally gave EWU its first-ever tournament win over the Grizzlies.
 
 
Contributors Galore for Eagles Versus Stanford
 
It takes a village to bring down a Pac-12 opponent, and the Eagles certainly had their share of heroes in the 67-61 win over Stanford on Nov. 14 to snap a 21-game losing streak to opponents from that league.
 
Leading for most of the 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.
 
Prior to that, 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 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.
 
Bliznyuk scored 23 points to lead the Eagles in scoring, and had five rebounds and a pair of assists. Gibson scored all 11 of his points in the first half, and Jesse Hunt finished with 10 with eight boards. True freshman Jack Perry came off the bench to score seven, and Griciunas had 10 rebounds to go along with six points.
 
 
Veteran and Newcomer Honored on College Sports Madness Preseason All-Big Sky Squad
 
Senior Bogdan Bliznyuk and true freshman Brendan Howard were selected to the College Sports Madness preseason All-Big Sky Conference team announced Oct. 3. The 6-foot-6 Bliznyuk was a first team all-league pick, and the 6-6 Howard was selected as the Big Sky's Freshman of the Year by CSM. Howard, though, is redshirting the 2017-18 season.
 
Howard ended his career at Great Falls (Mont.) High School career with a school-record 2,083 points to become the first AA player in the state of Montana to exceed the 2,000-point mark (the previous record was 1,930). He was a two-time Gatorade Player of the Year in Montana, was a four-time All-State selection and helped the Bison advance to the state tournament in each of his four years with the school.
 
"Brendan understands the game and plays extremely hard," said Legans. "Once he adjusts to the next level of competition, we expect big things from him in the years to come."
 
He had a 3.71 grade point average in high school, and is the son of former Montana State University players Bob and Kathleen Howard. Bob was his coach at Great Falls, and played two seasons in Bozeman for MSU. Kathleen is a native of Seattle who holds school records of 1,761 points and 990 rebounds at MSU. Brendan's brother, Bobby, went on to score 1,366 points and grab 600 rebounds for MSU.
 
 
Eagles Picked as High as Sixth in Preseason Polls
 
Last year the Eagles exceeded expectations of the prognosticators, and this season the Eagles will seek to do the same under first year head coach Shantay Legans.
 
Eastern has been picked to finish sixth by the media and seventh by the coaches in preseason polls released Oct. 13 by the league office. A year ago, Eastern was in a tie for fifth by the media and were also picked seventh by the coaches, but went on to finish as the league runner-up in the regular season.
 
Idaho, Weber State and Montana hold down the top three positions in both polls for the upcoming 2017-18 season. The media picked Montana State fourth, North Dakota fifth and Eastern sixth. The coaches picked Northern Colorado and Montana State in a fourth-place tie, followed by UND and EWU.
 
 
Eastern Honored For Fourth-Straight Year by the NABC for Academics
 
For the fourth consecutive year, the Eastern men's basketball team was honored with the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Team Academic Excellence Award announced last summer. In addition, a trio of players – including returning senior forward Bogdan Bliznyuk – were honored on the NABC Honors Court.
 
The team award was won by 209 colleges and universities for having a team cumulative grade point average of 3.0 and above for the 2016-17 season. Teams in NCAA Division I, II, II and NAIA Division I and II were eligible. Eastern and Gonzaga were the only NCAA Division I schools in the state of Washington to be honored, and were joined by Central Washington from NCAA Division II and Northwest College from the NAIA. Eastern, Idaho State and Montana were the only Big Sky Conference schools to be recognized.
 
Players on EWU's 2016-17 team included Academic All-America nominees Ty Gibson and Jesse Hunt, as well as their fellow Big Sky Conference All-Academic selections Jacob Wiley (Big Sky MVP), Bogdan Bliznyuk (second team All-Big Sky), Mason Peatling, Mario Soto and Luka Vulikic. Other members of the squad included Julian Harrell, Felix Von Hofe, Sir Washington, Cody Benzel, Michael Wearne, Grant Gibb and Geremy McKay, with Jacob Davison and Joshua Thomas redshirting.
 
Besides Bliznyuk, former Eagles Julian Harrell and Mario Soto were selected on the Honors Court. Recipients of the award must be a varsity player, and academically a junior or senior while earning a cumulative grade point average of 3.2 or higher.
 
Bliznyuk is a from Lutsk, Ukraine, and graduated in 2014 from Todd Beamer High School in Federal Way, Wash. He is a marketing major at Eastern, and currently has a 3.29 grade point average at EWU. A three-time member of the Big Sky All-Academic team, Bliznyuk is one of five returning players who earned that honor in the 2016-17 season. The others are Gibson, who has a near-perfect 3.99 GPA, Hunt (3.68 GPA), Peatling (3.96 GPA) and Vulikic (3.44 GPA).
 
 
Eagles Sign Standout Elijah Jackson from Chief Sealth HS in Seattle
 
The Eagles have signed Seattle's Elijah Jackson to a letter of intent to attend EWU and play for the Eagles next year, head coach Shantay Legans announced Nov. 9. Jackson is a 6-foot-4 guard at Chief Sealth High School in Seattle. He averaged 16.4 points, 2.4 assists, 2.2 steals and 2.9 rebounds per game as a junior to earn first team All-Metro League honors. He helped lead the Seahawks to the Metro League Playoffs in the 2016-17 season.
 
An exceptional jumper, he won the dunk contest at a Seattle versus Tacoma All-Star game and has also competed in track and field for Chief Sealth. He finished third in the long jump at the 2017 State 3A Championships with a personal-best leap of 22-10 3/4. He was also sixth in the high jump with a jump of 6-2 and eighth in the triple jump with a mark of 43-8. His best in the high jump is 6-6 and his best in the triple jump is 44-5 1/4.
 
He's accumulated over 400 hours of service in the community as well, including working with children with severe disabilities and volunteering at the Hoops For Life basketball camps. His parents are Jennifer Bermudez and Diallo "Steven" Jackson.
 
 
 

Comments from Head Coach Shantay Legans . . .

On Utah Game: "I have a lot to learn, but our team played hard. We were down big, but we came back and kept fighting. I give them all the credit in the world. We had some shots and we had a game plan defensively that we thought would work, but we need to do a better job getting our guys prepared. We gave up 85 points and they shot better than us from the field. I have to do a better job to get them prepared to go against teams like this."
 
On Schedule: "This schedule is building us for the future. I'm all the way in with the schedule we're playing. I'm excited about everything we are doing, we just need to get better. We want to win these games and it's disappointing to come out against Utah and shoot the ball the way we did. We're going to be much better our next time out."
 
On Defense Versus EKU: "That did win us the ballgame. Our guards did a great job of picking them up and pressuring them. We got them to turn the ball over and didn't let them play as fast as they want to play. When they are driving in, we have our big guys coming over using their size and athleticism to meet guys at the rim. They are changing shots and forcing passes, and our other players are rotating down well. This was one of our better defensive games, and they were all excited about playing defense. That's key for us because we have to keep getting better on offense."
 
On Stanford Win: "It's amazing. 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."
 
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. 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."
 
On Bliznyuk's Abilities: "Bogdan has been the personification of what we want our EWU program to look like. He is the perfect student-athlete and deserves all the accolades he is getting this preseason. He shows that hard work and determination pays off. We talked about it before the season started that he was going to be double-teamed and he has to make sure he's making the pass. He's making the pass and that's exactly what we're looking for. He's doing a great job of leading our players, getting them in the huddle and talking to make sure we are doing everything the right way. He's a great captain."
 
On Road Stretch: "It's going to be a great experience for our guys and will help us get ready for Big Sky play. We'll see who can play, and at what times during the game. It's a learning experience for me too, and the first game was a learning experience. Going on the road and playing seven straight, coming home and then going back on the road, will tell us a lot about our team. We'll see our character and where we are. I think we have a veteran group who knows what we are really playing for once we get into Big Sky play."
 
On Benas Griciunas in Exhibition Game: "I've been trying to tell people – he's a great person and a great teammate. He puts in all the hard work and he's a great-shooting big guy who makes a lot of threes. He hit a couple of those early and it changed the way Portland had to guard. He was out there making threes like he was Cody Benzel or Ty Gibson. We got a really good player when he decided to play his senior season with us."
 
On Academic Honors: "This is just a testament that we are more than just a talented basketball team. It also shows that academics are the highest priority for our student-athletes at Eastern Washington. I am proud of our players for finishing the year strong in the classroom, and setting an example for the incoming student-athletes."
 
 
 

Series Notes

 
* Eastern is now 15-9 all-time against Seattle in a series that has included at least one game annually since 2009. In the last two years the Eagles and Redhawks played each other twice in a season. A year ago in a pair of tightly-contested games that both went to double overtime, Eastern won in Seattle 93-88 after winning in Cheney 80-76. In the 2015-16 season, Eastern won at home 76-70 and then five days later fell in Seattle by a 58-56 score. Eastern won in the 2014-15 season in Seattle 87-75, and the year before triumphed in Cheney 82-75. Before renewing their rivalry in 2009, the last meeting came on Nov. 22, 1985, when Eastern won 83-64 at Reese Court in Cheney, Wash. Until 2009, that was the lone game played between the two schools since EWU moved to NCAA Division I in the 1983-84 season. The first four meetings came in the 1945-46 season, and Eastern won all four of those games, as well as a pair the following season. A split followed in 1948-49, and Seattle swept a pair in the 1951-52 season. Seattle was in NCAA Division I from 1944-1980, with such star players as Elgin Baylor, John O'Brien, Clint Richardson and Frank Oleynick on its rosters. Baylor, in fact, led Seattle to the championship game of the NCAA Tournament where it lost 84-72 to Kentucky. Formerly known as the Chieftains, from 1980-2002 they were affiliated with NAIA and from 2002-2007 were a member of NCAA Division II.
* On Nov. 22, 2017, Eastern made its last four 3-pointers in the second overtime and beat Seattle 80-76 Nov. 22 at Reese Court to win the title in the Legends Classic sub-regional round in Cheney, Wash. The Eagles had made just eight of 30 3-point shots until hitting its last four in less than a two-minute span. Bogdan Bliznyuk, Sir Washington, Felix Von Hofe and Cody Benzel all hit treys to turn a 70-65 deficit into a 77-73 lead with 25 seconds to play. Before that, Benzel and Bliznyuk hit triples – both with four seconds on the clock -- to force the game into overtime and double-overtime. Tournament MVP Jacob Wiley led the way with 20 points, nine rebounds, five blocked shots, five assists and a pair of steals in the victory. Benzel and Von Hofe each has 17, and freshman Luka Vulikic added a double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds. Benzel made the second start of his career, with his outside shooting an asset versus the zone defense of the Redhawks. The graduate of Spokane's Ferris High School finished with 17 points on 5-of-11 shooting from the 3-point arc, after scoring 12 with four 3-pointers one night earlier versus Bryant. Von Hofe finished with 17 points with a trio of 3-pointers and 6-of-8 shooting from the free throw line. The game featured 14 lead changes and 11 ties, all in the second half and overtime. The Eagles finished with 10 blocked shots.
* In the rematch last season on Dec. 4, 2017, EWU rallied from a 14-point deficit with 10 minutes left to force overtime, then prevailed 93-88 in another double-overtime non-conference victory over Seattle at KeyArena in Seattle, Wash. Six 3-pointers in the final eight minutes of regulation helped send the game into overtime, including a trey with 24 seconds remaining by Felix Von Hofe, who finished with 19 points. After the Redhawks hit a 3-pointer to send the game into a second extra period, Eastern used a 9-0 run and 11-of-12 free throws in the final 1:54 to close out its first road victory in three tries. Junior Bogdan Bliznyuk had a double-double with 31 points and 12 rebounds on his way to earning Big Sky Conference Player of the Week honors for a second-straight week. Spokane's Cody Benzel was also in double figures with 12 and senior Jacob Wiley had a great all-around game with 10 points, eight rebounds, five blocked shots, five assists and a pair of steals. The Redhawks led 50-36 with 10:05 to play when Eastern made its move. Bliznyuk scored five quick points, including one of six 3-pointers EWU would sink in the final eight minutes of regulation. With 24 seconds to play, Von Hofe made a 3-pointer to send the game into overtime and close a 10-of-18 shooting stretch. Eastern survived a 1-of-19 shooting stretch to finish at 42 percent for the game with 11 3-pointers.
 
* Eastern is 3-1 all-time against San Francisco, winning 96-90 a year ago in Cheney. The three prior meetings were in San Francisco, and Eastern lost 66-48 on Dec. 1, 1995, won 81-76 on Dec. 11, 2014, and won 81-77 on Dec. 1, 2015. All three games were played at USF.
* In last year's meeting, Eastern made its last eight shots of the game to complete a comeback from a 15-point deficit in a 96-90 victory over USF on Nov. 27 as part of the Eastern Classic at Reese Court. Eastern, which made 55 percent of its shots from the floor, took its first lead of the game with 4:09 remaining. The Eagles closed out the win by making its last eight field goal attempts – including six 3-pointers – as well as its last six free throws. Ty Gibson, Cody Benzel, Felix Von Hofe and Sir Washington all hit critical threes down the stretch, and Washington had another key basket as well and a pair of assists and two free throws on his way to a career-high 21 points. The two teams combined for 31 3-pointers, with Eastern making 13 and the Dons sinking 12 of their 18 in the first 20 minutes. Six different Eagles made treys, and seven players had triples for USF. Junior Bogdan Bliznyuk equaled his career high (at the time) with 32 points for EWU, and Von Hofe had 21 on 8-of-12 shooting from the field with five 3-pointers. Washington sank 7-of-10 shots from the field, both of his 3-pointers and 5-of-6 free throws, and also had six rebounds and three assists. Gibson came off the bench to finish with 10 points, making 2-of-3 3-point attempts and all four of his free throws in the final 12 seconds.
 
 
 

Recent Game Recaps

Eastern Goes on a Late Offensive Flurry, But Hot-Shooting Utah Wins 85-69
 
The Eagles fell behind by 19 at halftime and lost to a hungry Utah squad 85-69 on Nov. 24 at the Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City, Utah. Runs of 12-2 and 9-0 by Eastern in the second half – including a stretch in which EWU held Utah without a field goal for more than five minutes -- was too little too late. Utah used runs of 9-0 and 10-0 in the first half, and 14-2 to start the second half to help open a 33-point lead. The Eagles made 12 of their last 18 shots, but at one point was just 14-of-48 (29 percent). Senior Bogdan Bliznyuk paced the Eagles with 17 points, while redshirt freshman Jacob Davison scored 13 in this third double figure scoring performance in his last four games. Sophomore Mason Peatling got hot in the second half and finished with 11 points, and sophomore Luka Vulikic added 10 with a career-high seven assists. With Bliznyuk scoring four early points, Eastern forged an 11-11 tie on basket by Vulikic with 14:20 to play. Eastern hit four of nine shots to that point. In the first half, Bliznyuk scored 11 points and Davison had seven on 3-of-3 shooting. They combined for 18 of EWU's 27 first-half points and were a combined 7-of-11 from the field, while the rest of the team was just 4-of-23 (17 percent) before intermission. In the first-ever meeting against Utah, Eastern was out-shot 52 percent to 39 percent.  At one point, Utah was 20-of-30 from the field for 66.7 percent, but cooled down significantly. The Utes had a stretch of five makes in 17 attempts, including a stretch of seven misses in a row as the Eagles held them without a field goal for 5:06. In all, the Eagles had a 12-2 scoring run, with Peatling scoring the last six points in that stretch. Eastern ended the game on a 9-0 run.
 
 
Eagle Defense Superb in 83-62 Victory
 
The Eagles used outstanding defense to go on a 21-0 run in the first half to open a 19-point lead, and went on to rout Eastern Kentucky 83-62 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, on Nov. 22 as part of the fourth-annual MGM Resorts Main Event. After leading 39-16 at halftime, the Eagles led by as many as 28 in the second half and no less than 19 in the dominating victory. Eastern Washington had a commanding 40-13 advantage in bench points and 16-1 in assists as the Colonels made just 19 field goals in the game. Eastern Washington held the Colonels to 34.5 percent shooting from the field in improving to 3-3 on the season, while EKU fell to 2-3. Eastern Kentucky went 13:08 without scoring during EWU's scoring run, missing 14 shots as EWU opened a 30-11 advantage. Four Eagles scored in double figures, including a collegiate career high of 16 points by senior graduate transfer Benas Griciunas. Senior Bogdan Bliznyuk had 13 points and junior Cody Benzel scored 11. Freshman redshirt Richard Polanco was also credited with 11. Redshirt freshman Jacob Davison scored nine points and had five rebounds, and now has scored all 40 of his points this season in EWU's last three games. He came off the bench to score 20 against Georgia State on Nov 20, and had 11 one game earlier versus UNLV.