­­­­­­­Eastern Washington University "Eagles" Men's Basketball (4-8/0-0 Big Sky) Dec. 20 – Providence (formerly Great Falls), 6 p.m., Cheney, Wash. Dec. 29 – at Northern Colorado, 6 p.m., Greeley, Colo. 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:	The Providence game will be carried regionally by SWX.
­­­Webcast:	All EWU home games and all Big Sky Conference games are available via Pluto TV and http://watchbigsky.com
Live Stats:	http://ewustats.com for all EWU home games.
Weekly Coaches Show:	The first show hosted by Larry Weir and featuring head coach Shantay Legans is scheduled for Monday Dec. 18 at 6 p.m. from Barrelhouse Pub & Pizza in Cheney and aired live on 700-AM ESPN. Other tentative dates are Jan. 3 (Wednesday), Jan. 9 (Tuesday) and Mondays thereafter.

Getting that fifth win is the most important thing on the minds of the Eastern Washington University men's basketball team, which in about a week will open its Big Sky Conference schedule on the road.
 
Eastern wraps-up its challenging non-conference schedule by hosting Providence (formerly Great Falls) at 6:05 p.m. Wednesday (Dec. 20) on Santa Swoop Night at Reese Court in Cheney, Wash.
 
The Providence game will be carried live regionally on SWX, and all of EWU's remaining regular season games will be available via http://watchbigsky.com via Pluto TV. All Eastern games are carried live on 700-AM ESPN and 105.3-FM in the Spokane/Cheney area, with Larry Weir calling the play-by-play. Weir called his 1,000th EWU men's basketball or football game on Dec. 3 at Seattle. 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.
 
Eastern is 4-8 following a resounding 28-point victory over CSUN (Cal State Northridge) on Dec. 17 to snap a five-game losing skid – all on the road. After leading from start to finish – and by double-digits for the last 27 minutes of the 86-58 romp -- Eastern is thankful to be at home again before opening Big Sky play at Northern Colorado on Dec. 29 and North Dakota on Dec. 31.
 
"You have to prepare for the next game – it's our next game and it's our most important game," said Eastern head coach Shantay Legans. "It would put us at five wins for the season going into Big Sky play, and I want to start that game like we did (against Northridge). We want to jump on them and don't let up."
 
Providence, a member of the NAIA and the Frontier Conference, was defeated handily last year by Eastern by a 103-76 score. The Argos are 7-5 on the season following an 85-74 loss to Montana State-Billings on Dec. 8 in their last game prior to visiting Cheney. The game versus the Eagles will be an exhibition for Providence, which has already lost to Utah State (98-54) and California (81-52) in two other exhibitions.
 
"I'm excited about our next game being at home, but we don't want to look ahead to the Big Sky," said Legans. "Providence is a pretty good team – I've watched them play. They have some really good players and some transfers. We have to be ready for that game and can't give up any surprises."
 
In the preseason media poll, Eastern was picked to finish sixth in the league – just ahead of No. 5 UND and just ahead of No. 7 UNC. The Coaches poll had UNC at No. 4, with North Dakota sixth and EWU seventh. Northern Colorado is currently 8-3 this season and plays at Wyoming (Dec. 19) and UNLV (Dec. 22) prior to playing the Eagles. The Bears won 63-62 at a neutral site over South Dakota, a team EWU lost to 75-73 on the road.
 
North Dakota, the defending Big Sky regular season and tournament champs, are 4-7 after suffering a narrow 89-83 overtime loss at nationally-ranked Gonzaga on Dec. 16. The Fighting Hawks don't play again until hosting Idaho on Dec. 29.
 
Seven of EWU losses this season have been on the home court of their opponents, which are 58-23 (72 percent) on the season and 40-4 (91 percent) at home through games of Dec. 17. After 36-straight days without a home game, Eastern returned to Reese Court where the Eagles had won 84 percent of their games (46-9) in the previous four years since the 2013-14 season. The Eagles are now 2-0 at home this year, and recorded a huge win at Stanford (67-61 on Nov. 14) and barely lost at Wyoming (93-88 in overtime on Dec. 17).
 
"You never know what can happen in a game – you could miss all your shots and turn the ball over, and the other team could makes all their shots, and then it's a game going down the stretch," added Legans. "We want to be ready at the first jump ball."
 
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

 
Eagles Are Coming Off Best Three Shooting Performances of the Season
 
After their top three shooting performances of the year, the Eagles have climbed well above 40 percent for the season and are now at 41.6 percent overall and 34.2 percent from the 3-point stripe. In the last three games alone, Eastern is shooting at a 48.6 clip overall and 46.7 on 3-pointers (.393/.302 prior to that).
 
Eastern is holding opponents to 44.2 shooting overall and 35.7 from the arc. As a result, Eastern is 11th in the Big Sky Conference in field goal percentage, but is fifth in the league defensively. The Eagles are 4-0 when they out-shoot their opponents and 0-8 when they don't.
 
Eastern out-shot CSUN 52 percent to 36 percent on Dec. 17, including an 11-3 advantage in 3-pointers made. Eastern's 11-of-22 performance from the arc equaled its season-best of 50 percent, while its 51.6 percent shooting afternoon eclipsed the .484 shooting percentage EWU had at Wyoming in its previous outing.
 
The Eagles made what was then a season-best 45.6 percent of its shots against South Dakota on Dec. 10, including a 56 percent second half. The Eagles followed that with a 52 percent first half against Wyoming two days later, with Bogdan Bliznyuk making 5-of-8 and Jack Perry sinking all three of his shots. Eastern sank 9-of-16 3-pointers and took leads of 9-0, 16-5 and its biggest lead of the game at 31-18 on a basket by Bliznyuk with 6:10 left. Eastern led at halftime 38-32, and at one point after intermission, Eastern had made 13-of-26 3-pointers and 13-of-26 from inside the 3-point arc. The Eagles finished at 48.4 percent overall and 50.0 percent from the 3-point stripe, featuring a season-best 15 treys. Eastern finished 15-of-30 from behind the arc and 15-of-32 inside of it.
 
In addition, the Eagles made all 12 of their free throws at South Dakota, and entered the Wyoming game leading the Big Sky Conference at 75.0 percent on the season. However, Eastern was just 13-of-21 at the line against the Cowboys for an uncharacteristic 61.9 percent. The Eagles made 11-of-14 against CSUN on Dec. 17, and are currently second in the league (74.1 percent).
 
True freshman Jack Perry has started EWU's last three games, and had his first two first double-figure scoring performances with 13 at South Dakota on Nov. 10 and 17 two nights later at Wyoming when he also had a season-high seven assists. On the season he's averaging 5.6 points and 2.2 assists per game while making 51.2 percent from the field and 16-of-32 (50 percent to rank second in the Big Sky) 3-pointers.
 
Redshirt freshman Jacob Davison made the first start of his career at Seattle on Dec. 3 and has started ever since while averaging 7.1 points. He had a 13-point performance against Utah on Nov. 24 for his third double-figure scoring performance in a four-game span. He came off the bench to score 20 against Georgia State on Nov 20, and had 11 one game earlier versus UNLV. He has made 25-of-29 free throws (86 percent to rank fifth in the Big Sky). Junior Ty Gibson has averaged 2.3 3-pointers per game (27-of-74 total) to rank ninth in the league, and is currently second on the team in scoring at 8.3 per game.
 
 
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 – and a total of 13 in 41 days (Nov. 10-Dec. 20), Eastern head coach Shantay Legans has gone to his bench often.
 
For the season, Eastern is averaging 28.1 points per game from its bench (337 total), compared to an average of 19.3 by its opponents (232 total). Nine Eagles are averaging between 15.9 and 32.9 minutes per game, and two others are each averaging at least 8.2. For the season, Bogdan Bliznyuk is averaging 17.3 points per game, but 10 others are averaging between 4.4 and 8.3.
 
Against Cal State Northridge on Dec. 17, five players scored in double figures as the Eagles had their second-most points of the season. Eastern had its best shooting percentages (.516 overall and .500 from the 3-point stripe), as well as a season-high 22 assists. Five different Eagles had at least three assists, and three Eagles had at least six rebounds. Defensively, Eastern had a season best by allowing just 58 points, surpassing the previous low of 61 on two other occasions – both wins.
 
The Eagles had a season-low 18 bench points at South Dakota on Dec. 10, but had a season-high 40 versus Eastern Kentucky on Nov. 22. Eastern 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.
 
 
6-foot-6 Point-Forward Bogdan Bliznyuk Now 183 Points from School Record
 
Big Sky Conference Player of the Year candidate Bogdan Bliznyuk is now just 167 points from ending what could be a short-lived record.
 
In 115 career games (15th in school history), Bliznyuk has moved into third in school history in career scoring with a current total of 1,636 points – 105 from second and 167 from the school record. Next on the list is Ron Cox (1,741 from 1974-77) and another former teammate, Venky Jois (school-record 1,803 points from 2013-16). Against San Francisco on Dec. 7, Bliznyuk passed Irv Leifer (1,550 from 1942-47), who held the record for 30 years after playing for EWU from 1942-47. He then passed the 1,564 points of his former teammate Tyler Harvey (2013-15). Previously, Bliznyuk passed 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. In addition, if Bliznyuk plays 13 more games he will equal the record of 128 set by his former teammate Felix Von Hofe from 2014-17.
 
Bliznyuk has made 44.8 percent of his field goals and 84.2 percent of his free throws (seventh in the Big Sky) thus far to average 17.3 points (eighth in the league) through 12 games. He is also averaging 5.8 rebounds (11th) and 3.1 assists (12th). He now has nine performances in his 115-game career of at least 30 points, 30 with at least 20 and 78 scoring in double figures.
 
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.
 
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.
 
Led by Bliznyuk, the Eagles in 2017-18 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.
 
 
Four of EWU's Past Opponents in the Top 100 in RPI, While Two Are Ahead
 
Eastern's last two losses – nail-biters decided by a total of just seven points -- came at a pair of teams ranked in the top 100 in RPI and unbeaten at home thus far. Eastern fell on Dec. 10 by a 75-73 score at 11-3 South Dakota (5-0 at home), which had won its previous four home games by an average of 31 points per game. Eastern then fell 93-88 in overtime two nights later to a 9-3 Wyoming team (6-0 at home) which had a winning margin of 10.8 points per game on its own court prior to facing EWU. In games played through Dec. 17, Wyoming is 67th in the RPI while South Dakota is 100th.
 
As more and more games are played nationally, the NCAA's RPI (ratings percentage index) rankings are sorting themselves out and Eastern is at No. 208 (102nd in strength of schedule). Among foes EWU has already played, Utah, Washington, Wyoming and South Dakota are all in the top 100 at Nos. 48, 61, 67 and 100, respectively.
 
The top three Big Sky schools are 6-4 Southern Utah (#58), 9-3 Portland State (#70), 6-5 Montana State (#124), and 8-3 Northern Colorado (#135). Eastern opens its league season Dec. 29 at UNC, and has its Big Sky home opener versus PSU on Jan. 4.
 
When the dust settled from EWU's 67-61 win at Stanford on Nov. 14, the next day Eastern ranked sixth nationally in the live-rpi.com rankings (the NCAA had not revealed its rankings by then). Rated so high based on a high strength of schedule, Eastern was just behind Big Sky rival Weber State at No. 5, with Washington holding down the top spot. At one point last year EWU's RPI was 57th on Dec. 13, and during its run to the NCAA Tournament in 2014-15 the Eagles were as high as 50th.
 
 
Home Games Cherished in Second-Toughest Preseason in 31 Years
 
With just three home games in the preseason, the first season at the helm has been road-heavy and a challenging one for Shantay Legans and his first team, with 10 of 13 preseason games away from home. In fact, the only time in 31 seasons as a member of the Big Sky Eastern has had a more road-heavy preseason schedule was in the 1988-89 season when EWU played 11 of 14 games away from home. That team was 1-10 away from home and 3-11 overall heading into conference play (EWU finished 8-22 overall and 5-11 in the league).
 
This season is also just the second time in school history EWU has played three Pac-12 Conference opponents in the same year, with 2011-12 the other season and included losses to Oregon, Washington State and UCLA. In the 2017-18 season, 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 were the task EWU took on. Three other teams in NCAA Division I 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 away from home. 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 final stretch of road games featured 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.
 
 
Eagles End One of Top 3 Road Stretches in 110 Years
 
Eastern's recently-concluded long road stretch was rare, but not unprecedented in 110 years of basketball at Eastern. The 10 games (2-8 record) without a home game is the second-longest stretch, ranking only behind the 1988-89 team which played 11-straight away from home (1-10) while going from Dec. 3 to Jan. 12 without a home game. That team went 39 days without playing at home and the 1981-82 squad had a stretch of 37 days (5-4 in nine games away from home). This year's team went 36 days – Nov. 10 to Dec. 17 – without playing at home at Reese Court, where the Eagles are 46-9 (84 percent) in the last four-plus years (since the 2013-14 season). Since joining NCAA Division I in the 1983-84 season, Eastern has had eight month-long stretches without a home game, and prior to that had seven known such streaks.
 
The Eagles began their road trip against the University of Washington in Seattle on Nov. 12 – two days after playing at home on Nov. 10 versus Walla Walla. The first leg of EWU's road stretch included 4,432 airline miles, while the other trips in the road stretch included 3,449 air miles. That's a total of 7,881 air miles, not including ground travel and a bus trip to and from Seattle for the game versus the Redhawks.
 
 
1,000 Broadcast Milestone Reached Dec. 3 by Broadcaster Larry Weir
 
Long-time Eastern Washington University radio announcer Larry Weir called his 1,000th Eagle men's basketball or football game on Dec. 3 in EWU's game at Seattle. He was the 2015 and 2016 State of Washington Sportscaster of the Year.
 
Weir recently concluded his 27th season as the football voice of the Eagles and is in his 25th calling men's basketball for EWU, whose games are broadcast on 700-AM ESPN. Through the Dec. 3 game, Weir had missed just 27 out of 706 men's basketball games, calling a total of 679 to go along with 321 out of a possible 322 football games. Through Dec. 17, his total is at 1,004.
 
Weir first began calling games in the 1991-92 season, and the only football game he missed in that span was a 2005 playoff game at Northern Iowa when he was broadcasting Eastern's basketball games in Alaska. Weir is in his 25th season calling men's basketball action for the Eagles (from 1991-2009 and again from 2012-present). Weir's tenure has included calling games coached by seven men's basketball coaches and five in football. The 2017-18 season marks his first year working with EWU coaches Aaron Best in football and Shantay Legans in basketball.
 
 
Now in Cheney, Basketball Coaches Shows Start Dec. 18
 
Featuring a new location, the first Eastern Washington University basketball coaches show will take place Monday, Dec. 18 at 6 p.m. Pacific time and will be broadcast live on 700-AM ESPN.
 
The public is invited to attend the live shows, which are now taking place at Barrelhouse Pub and Pizza in Cheney, Wash., just a few blocks from the EWU campus. They begin at 6 p.m., and feature head men's basketball coach Shantay Legans, host Larry Weir and other special guests, including women's head coach Wendy Schuller. The next shows will take place on Wednesday, Jan. 3 and Tuesday, Jan. 9, then move to Mondays starting on Jan. 15.
 
Barrelhouse is located at 122 College Ave. in downtown Cheney, and is owned by Mike Lyons. The restaurant features specialty pizzas, calzones and other appetizers, as well as a large variety of draft beer and a full bar. It also has a large assortment of televisions tuned to each day's top sporting events.
 
 
SWX to Broadcast Four Eastern Men's Games, Including Pair of Doubleheaders
 
Four Eastern Washington University men's basketball games – including a pair of doubleheaders with the EWU's women's program – will be aired by SWX in Spokane this winter.
 
The broadcasts begin on Wednesday, Dec. 20, when Eastern hosts the University of Providence out of Great Falls, Mont., at 6 p.m. Pacific time. The next broadcast will be Thursday, Jan. 4, against Portland State at 6 p.m.
 
The final two broadcasts on SWX will be doubleheaders against Idaho on Friday, Jan. 12 in Cheney and Friday, Feb. 9 in Moscow. Both nights the women's game between the Eagles and Vandals starts at 5 p.m., with the men's game following at approximately 7:30 p.m.
 
Over-air digital stations for SWX are 6.2 in Spokane/Cheney/Coeur d'Alene/Sandpoint/Lewiston, 23.3 in Yakima and 25.3 in the Tri-Cities. The station is also available via Comcast 306/112 (Spokane); Davis Cable 514/81.2/12 (Cheney); Time Warner 1245 (Coeur d'Alene & Pullman/Moscow); Charter 183 (Tri-Cities/Yakima), Cable One 466 (Lewiston), Northland Cable 317 (Moses Lake) and Northland Cable 115 (Sandpoint).
 
In addition, Eleven Sports will broadcast Saturday home games for the Eagle men against Northern Colorado on Jan. 27 and Montana State on Feb. 17, with both beginning at 2 p.m. Pacific time. Eleven Sports will also broadcast the quarterfinals and semifinals of the men's basketball championship in Reno, as well as the women's basketball semifinals and championship game.
 
Eleven Sports is available in 70 million homes worldwide in Belgium, Italy, Luxembourg, Poland, Singapore, Taiwan and the United States, via various cable, satellite, telco, and OTT providers.  Go to http://elevensportsusa.com/where-to-watch/ to find Eleven Sports in your area. All Eleven Sports productions will also be available on WatchBigSky.com and Pluto TV, which airs all EWU regular season home games and other Big Sky road games.
 
The Pac-12 Networks have already aired three Eagle games, and four more EWU men's road games will be broadcast by regional entities. The upcoming South Dakota game on Dec. 10 will be on the Midco Network and available via ESPN3, while the North Dakota game on Dec. 31 will also be televised by Midco. Eastern's game at Northern Arizona on Jan. 18 will be televised by NAU-TV and the Feb. 22 game at Weber State will be on KJZZ.
 
 
 
 

Comments from Head Coach Shantay Legans . . .

 
On CSUN Win: "We had to try to do what teams do to us when we are on the road. We came out and jumped on them right away. We followed the scouting report exactly and the players did everything we asked. It's a player's game and we came out and made plays."
 
On Shooting Against CSUN:  "We were glad to be back home, and the shooting percentages looked like it too. Getting guys back in the gym whenever they would like to and work on their own is huge for us. They always want to be in the gym and work on their game, so being on the road is hard. You only get your hour, hour and a half, and then you have to worry about everybody on the court. Now they are back home shooting and feeling good. They've rested well, and it showed today against a team that does a lot of different things on defense."
 
 On Opening Quick Lead: "I like that we came and just jumped on the opponent. We didn't wait too long – we played like we wanted to play and they didn't dictate how we played. Playing against some of the teams we did early in the season helped us realize what it takes to win go win some of those games. We were a couple of points here and points there from winning some of them. As our guys understand their roles and what we need to do, they'll understand that when you jump on opponents early in each half it will break their will. It think that is what we did today."
 
On Eagles Filling in for Injured Players: "Mason is fine and Luka is going to be okay. It's just precautionary until Big Sky begins. We understand what the bigger picture is. We had guys step up and play well. Richard had a good game – he shot the ball well and played inside-out a little bit. Benas got on track with 4-of-7 shooting, made both his free throws and had three blocks – that's huge for us. It's good to have other guys stepping up and that's what happened."
 
On Bogdan Bliznyuk & Jesse Hunt Versus CSUN: "Bogdan and Jesse are emotional and two of our leaders. When you are able to see that and see how it works, it's great to watch and sit back as a coach. Jesse didn't just provide energy. He's a really good player and did a lot of great things today. Offensively he had three assists and moved the ball well, and he's a great rebounder."
 
On Eagles Versus Wyoming: "Everything they had in the tank they emptied. It's tough to lose this game, but we are going to get better and we just have to be smarter at the end of games. I'm really excited about this team. When we get back to Cheney we'll be ready to go against Northridge."
 
On Jack Perry: "We're lucky to have him. He does a lot of things right and his father is a good coach back in Australia. Jack comes battle-tested and it's great having him. He is confident every time he's on the court and he understands exactly what is going on. It's like having another coach out there, and he's doing everything the right way. We have a lot of different options we can go with."
 
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 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

 
* The Eagles are 2-0 against Providence, with both wins coming since 2015 when the school was known as Great Falls. Eastern has hit the century mark in both, winning 103-76 on Dec. 8, 2016, and 104-64 romp on Dec. 6, 2015.
* In the 2016 meeting, Eastern jumped out to a 27-2 lead and went on to beat Great Falls handily 103-76 in non-conference game Dec. 8 at Reese Court in Cheney, Wash. The Eagles had a 59-percent to 47-percent shooting advantage over the Argos, a member of the Frontier Conference in the NAIA. The finals week romp followed five games Eastern won by a collective total of 24 points and featured five overtime periods. Ty Gibson scored 13 points in a less than four minute span in the first half and finished with a career-high 19 points. He led four players in double figures, including two-time Big Sky Conference Player of the Week Bogdan Bliznyuk with 18 points and four assists. Mason Peatling had five points, three assists and a pair of rebounds. Eastern had a 12-of-18 shooting stretch early in the game, while Great Falls missed its first 10 shots. The Eagles made 66 percent of their shots in the second half and 59 percent in the game, making 12-of-22 3-pointers for 55 percent. Eastern's defense held Great Falls to 28 percent in the first half, and 47 percent in the game. Eastern had only eight turnovers compared to 19 for UGF. The Eagles had runs of 22-0 and 12-0 in the early going to open a 39-4 lead. The Eagles held the Argos to one field goal in the first 13:36 of the game. Eastern led by as many as 40 (86-46) and no less than 26 the rest of the way. Eastern finished with 100 points for the first time this season and 72nd time in school history, hitting the century mark on a 3-point play by Grant Gibb.
* In 2015, Eight of the 10 EWU players who played against Great Falls were freshmen or sophomores, and they romped 104-64 on Dec. 6, 2015. Cody Benzel scored a career-high 23 points with seven 3-pointers to lead seven Eagles in double figures. Eastern used a 14-4 run at the end of the first half to lead by 14 at halftime, then led by as many as the final margin in out-scoring the Argos 56-30 in the second half. The Eagles made 17 3-pointers – one short of the school record – in the game, making 17-of-40 3-point attempts and winning the rebounding battle 43-28. The Eagles had 20 second-chance points and scored 15 points off 13 Great Falls turnovers, while committing a season-low six turnovers themselves. Sir Washington made 6-of-8 shots from the field and finished what was then a career-high 15 points, a career-high nine rebounds and a pair of steals. Felix Von Hofe also had 15 with a trio of 3-pointers, and Bogdan Bliznyuk added 13 points and seven rebounds.
 
 
 
 

Recent Game Recaps

 
Excited Eagles Turn Homecoming Into 86-58 Win Over Matadors
 
Eastern led by double digits for the last 27 minutes of the game and handily defeated CSUN (Cal State Northridge) 86-58 Sunday (Dec. 17) in its first home game in over a month at Reese Court in Cheney, Wash.  Five Eagles scored in double figures for the Eagles, led by the near triple-double of senior Bogdan Bliznyuk. He finished with 16 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists as the Matadors never led. Eastern improved to 4-8 on the season by taking command early, and eventually led by double digits the last 27:15 of the game. Junior Jesse Hunt added a career-high 14 points, eight rebounds and three assists in his first start of the season and 13th in his 75-game career. Junior Ty Gibson made 3-of-8 3-point attempts and all three of his free throws to finish with 12 points. Senior graduate transfer Benas Griciunas played 14 minutes and responded with 10 points, three rebounds and three blocked shots on 4-of-7 shooting from the field. True freshman Richard Polanco was the fifth Eagle in double figures, finishing with 10 points, six rebounds and a block in 14 minutes. The Eagles had its second-most points of the season and its best shooting percentages (.516 overall and .500 from the 3-point stripe), as well as a season-high 22 assists. Five different Eagles had at least three assists, and three Eagles had at least six rebounds. Defensively, Eastern had a season best by allowing just 58 points, surpassing the previous low of 61 on two other occasions – both wins. CSUN never led and the game was tied for just 1:47. The Eagles led for 38:13, and jumped out to a quick 17-8 lead after a 7-0 run. The Eagles later went on a 16-4 run and took a double-digit lead it would never relinquish. The Eagles led at halftime 39-22, then poured it on in the second half with runs of 5-0, 5-0, 7-0 and 4-0 to open its biggest lead of the game at 75-47 with 5:27 remaining. It was EWU's first home game in over a month, having not played at Reese Court since defeating Walla Walla on Nov. 10.
 
 
Eastern Nearly Pulls Off Upset, But Falls to Wyoming 93-88 in Overtime
 
The Eagles ended their 10-game road stretch with an impressive showing, but Wyoming rallied from a six-point deficit with 33 seconds left in regulation to prevail 93-88 in overtime on Dec. 12 in Laramie, Wyo. Eastern led for 35:14 in the game, compared to just 6:52 for the Cowboys. Eastern nearly beat a Mountain West Conference foe for the first time since 2002, opening leads of 9-0 and 16-5 in the early going and leading by as many as 13 in the first half and six with 33 seconds to play. The second half and overtime featured five ties and seven lead changes, but the Cowboys outscored EWU 22-11 down the stretch in the final 30 seconds of regulation and the five-minute overtime period. Six Eagles combined for a season-high 15 3-pointers made, as the Eagles had season-best percentages of 48.4 percent overall and 50.0 percent from the arc (15-of-30). Senior Bogdan Bliznyuk made 9-of-18 shots overall, 3-of-6 from the 3-point stripe and 9-of-12 free throws to finish with 30 points. It was the ninth performance of his 114-game career with at least 30 points, and he also had four rebounds and three assists. True freshman Jack Perry made his first five shots, and finished with a career-high 17 points on 6-of-10 shooting from the field. He sank 3-of-6 3-pointers and had a career-high seven assists. Junior Ty Gibson sank 5-of-10 3-pointers, and finished with 15 points and a career-high seven rebounds. His previous high for boards was six against Southern Utah last season. Junior Jesse Hunt chipped in six points, and also had a team-high eight rebounds and a pair of assists.