For the first 20 minutes, Bogdan Bliznyuk single-handedly outscored the Thunderbirds.
 
En route to moving to No. 3 on the Big Sky Conference's all-time scoring list, Bliznyuk had another near triple-double as the Eastern Washington University men's basketball team rolled to a 74-51 victory over Southern Utah Thursday (March 1) at Reese Court in Cheney, Wash.
 
The victory, coupled with a win by Montana over Weber State and an Idaho victory, clinched a first-round bye in the upcoming Big Sky Conference Tournament. Eastern can finish no worse than third with a win on Saturday, but a loss coupled with a Weber State win at Montana State would give the Eagles fourth.
 
Eastern had season-best performances defensively for points and shooting percentage allowed as it extended EWU's winning streak to a league-best five games. Eastern opened up a 41-12 lead in the first 17 1/2 minutes and went on to out-shoot SUU 49 percent to 32 percent. The Eagles led by as many as 30 in the second half and no less than 16.
 
Bliznyuk, who scored only 18 points in just 27 minutes because of foul trouble in the overtime loss to SUU, played 37 minutes in the rematch and had 32 points, a career-high 15 rebounds and five assists. Junior Ty Gibson had 13 points for his best scoring performance in 2 1/2 months. Senior Sir Washington, who played in his 118th game as an Eagle to move into seventh in school history, chipped in 10 points.
 
Eastern's all-time leading scorer, Bliznyuk now has 2,045 points in his illustrious career to move into third in Big Sky history. He is only 57 points from the record of 2,102, with at least two games left to play for the Big Sky Player of the Year candidate. Bliznyuk is only the fifth player in the 55-year history of the league to hit the 2,000-point mark. He also made all three of his free throws, giving him a streak of 68-straight, just five from the NCAA single season record,
 
Now 10-1 at home and 56-10 (85 percent) at Reese Court in the past five seasons since 2013-14, Eastern closes out its regular season home schedule on Saturday (March 3) on Senior Day. Tipoff will be at approximately 2:15 p.m. following the conclusion of senior introductions.
 
"The statement was pretty good, and we have to come back on Saturday and do the same thing," added Legans. "We have to play with more energy because it's Senior Day, and guys will be way up and ready to go. A lot of teams lose on Senior Day, so we have to make sure we come out and play a full 40 minutes."
 
 
Records . . .
 
* The Eagles are 17-13 on the season and 12-5 in the Big Sky, and have won 14 of their last 19 games after a 3-8 start. The Eagles are 10-1 at home and 6-11 on opponent home courts this season, finishing 5-4 on the road in the league season and currently 7-1 at home.
* Southern Utah is 11-17 overall, 4-12 in the conference and 2-13 on the road this season.
 

What it Means . . .
 
* With just one game left for all league teams on Saturday, Eastern has clinched a first-round bye in the Big Sky Conference Tournament, which takes place March 6-10 in Reno, Nevada. The top four teams receive first-round byes and won't have to play until March 8 in the quarterfinals.

* Through Thursday's action in the Big Sky, Montana clinched the regular season title at 15-2, followed by Idaho at 13-4, and EWU and Weber State at 12-5. Northern Colorado is currently at 11-6.

* The Eagles can finish as high as third in the league standings, either with a 3-way tie at 13-5 with Weber State and Idaho, or a two-way tie with Weber State. Eastern was swept by Idaho, but the Vandals and Eagles both defeated WSU in the lone meetings. A tie just with Idaho would give the Vandals third place by virtue of a season sweep over EWU.

* Eastern could end up a three-way tie at 12-6 with Weber State and Northern Colorado, and EWU would be No. 3, WSU No. 4 and UNC No. 5. EWU and WSU would both have a 2-1 record amongst tied teams, and UNC would be fifth with a 1-3 record. After the elimination of UNC in the tie, EWU would get No. 3 because of its win over Weber. A head-to-head tie with Weber would give Eastern No. 3, and a tie with just UNC would give EWU the tiebreaker by virtue of EWU's win over Montana. The Eagles and Bears split two games this season.

* If Eastern loses and Weber State wins on Saturday, the Eagles would finish fourth.

 
 
What's Next . . .
 
* Eastern closes its regular season schedule when it hosts Northern Arizona on Saturday (March 3). The Lumberjack game is Senior Day at EWU, and the Eagles will honor Bogdan Bliznyuk, Sir Washington and Benas Griciunas in pre-game ceremonies. Bliznyuk has earned the last two Big Sky Conference Player of the Week honors, and four on the season. The game will tip-off at approximately 2:15 p.m. following the conclusion of senior introductions, which begin at 2 p.m.
 
 
Keys to Game . . .
 
* Eastern's staggeringly fast start resulted in some eye-popping numbers. Eastern held Southern Utah to 29.0 percent shooting from the field in the first half while the Eagles shot at a 53.3 percent clip themselves. At one point in the first half, Bogdan Bliznyuk single-handedly outscored the Thunderbirds 24-12, with EWU taking a 39-12 lead with 3:57 to play on his three-point play.
 
 
Turning Point . . .
 
* Eastern had runs of 13-0, 11-0 and 15-0 in the first half to open a 44-22 lead at halftime. It equaled the third-best defensive half for the Eagles this season. The Thunderbirds had stretches of 6 1/2 minutes, 2 1/2 minutes and five minutes without scoring, and at one point had missed 10 shots in a row and had another stretch of six-consecutive misses.
 
 
Top Performers . . .
 
* Eastern all-time leading scorer Bogdan Bliznyuk sank 13-of-21 shots from the field, including 3-of-7 3-point attempts, to finish with 32 points, a career-high 15 rebounds and five assists. He also had 15 rebounds as a sophomore versus Idaho. It was his fifth double-double of the season and 20th of his career, with EWU owning a 16-4 record in those games. It was also his 11th career game of 30 points or more, his 41st with at least 20, as well as his 27th double-figure scoring performance of the season and 94th in 133 career games. He was 3-of-3 from the free throw line, and has now made 68 consecutive – five from the NCAA record -- dating back to EWU's game at North Dakota on Dec. 31.
* Junior Ty Gibson sank 4-of-7 3-pointers on his way to scoring 13 points. It was his best performance of the conference season, and most since scoring 15 versus Wyoming on Dec. 12, 2017. He has 10 double-figure scoring performances this season and 16 in his career.
* Senior Sir Washington scored 10, giving him six double-figure scoring performances this season and 21 in his career.
* Redshirt freshman Jacob Davison chipped in eight points, including alley-oop dunks on passes from Sir Washington and Bogdan Bliznyuk.
 
 
Key Stats . . .
 
* The 51 points SUU scored were the fewest EWU has surrendered this season, besting the 54 they allowed at Sacramento State. Eastern finished at 49.1 percent shooting for the game, compared to just 32.3 percent for Southern Utah – another season best defensive performance for the Eagles. For the season, Eastern is now 15-2 when they out-shoot their opponents and 2-11 when they don't.
 
* For the fifth-straight game, Eastern won the rebounding battle, giving them an advantage in 13 games this season. Eastern is 11-2 in those 12 games. The Eagles out-rebounded Southern Utah 41-35, and prior to that Idaho State 32-26, Weber State 33-29, Montana State 47-39 and Montana 30-27.
 
 
Other Team Highlights . . .
 
* Big Sky Conference Player of the Year candidate Bogdan Bliznyuk now has 2,045 career points in 133 career games, ranking him third in league history as just the fifth player in the 55-year history of the league to hit the 2,000-point mark. He passed current Utah head coach Larry Krystokowiak from Montana with 2,017 points from 1982-85 and Bruce Collins from Weber State with 2,019 from 1976-80. He is now 33 points away from Weber State's Jeremy Senglin with 2,078 from 2013-17 and 57 from the record of 2,102 set by Orlando Lightfoot from Idaho in three seasons from 1991-94. Interestingly, Eastern women's player Delaney Hodgins became just the fourth player in the 29-year history of women's basketball in the Big Sky to hit 2,000 points when she scored 30 versus Weber State on Feb. 22. She had 37 on Wednesday versus Southern Utah and now has 2,059 in her career.
 
 
Notables . . .
 
* Bogdan Bliznyuk has made 68 consecutive free throws dating back to EWU's game at North Dakota on Dec. 31. There is no known record for EWU and the Big Sky, but the NCAA Division I record is 73 set by Gary Buchanan from Villanova over a 21-game stretch in the 2000-01 season. The career record of 85 came between Feb. 15, 2001, and Jan. 18, 2003, by Darnell Archey from Butler during a 57-game stretch.
 
 
Comments from Head Coach Shantay Legans . . .
 
On Fast Start: "Our guys came out at the start of the game really intense. They beat us and they beat us pretty good at their place. They led early there, so we wanted to make sure we came out and didn't give them an opportunity to really breathe."
 
On Preparation: "We had a great week of practice – probably one of the best weeks we've had. They came in prepared and were ready to go. Bogdan's leadership was great throughout this week and kept the guys energized. Our guys were really excited this week. We want to advance our season and we want that bye. That's what we are fighting for. If we can win on Saturday we'll get a bye for sure."
 
On Facing Pressures: "I didn't have any doubt in my mind that we would come out and play like we did tonight. I thought we came out and played hard for all 40 minutes. There was probably a drop-off right at the beginning of the second half, but we got going again. They made 5-of-6 to start the second half, and then we ended up holding them to 11-of-31. That's pretty good. We've done that defensively the whole year, and we are going to hang our hat on the defensive end."
 
On Allowing Players to Make Plays: "It's a player's game, and I tell them all the time to just go out there and make plays. It's not showboating or anything like that, but if it's there, I tell them to go get it. Bogdan made a pass in the second half on a lob to Jacob, and our guys got out and ran the court. We can get up and down, and we take shots when they are there. It's kind of like a slow break, and it helps us get downhill and find open shooters. Our players understand and are attacking their roles, and I couldn't be happier as a coach. We played great."
 
On Upcoming Tournament: "Our goal at the beginning of the season was to win the conference championship. We came up a little short in the regular season, but if we beat NAU we'll be the hottest Big Sky team going into the tournament. Hopefully we'll get a good seed. We've played all the teams in the league and I think we're right up there with the best teams. I'm excited for our chances, but first things first, we have to handle NAU. They are going to come in here and play well, so we'll have to prepare well for that game."