The glass was once again full – overflowing in fact -- Friday (March 9) for the Eastern Washington University men's basketball team.
 
On a night Big Sky Conference MVP Bogdan Bliznyuk became the all-time leading scorer in the 55-year history of the league and set a trio of tournament records, the third-seeded Eagles beat No. 10 Southern Utah 82-70 in the semifinals of the Big Sky Conference Tournament at the Reno (Nevada) Events Center.
 
With the league MVP pouring in 32 points, Eastern extended its winning streak to eight games – its longest in 14 years – to advance to its seventh Big Sky championship game in school history. The Eagles, who won the tourney title in 2004 and 2015, have now won 17 of their last 22 games after a 3-8 start. Now 20-13, they have 20 victories for the second-straight season and third in the last four, with EWU achieving that mark just one other time in the school's 35 seasons as a member of NCAA Division I.
 
For the fifth-straight game, Eastern led at halftime by at least 12 points, taking a 43-31 lead at half. With Bliznyuk scoring 17 points in the first half, Eastern had its best shooting half of the season both overall (70.8 percent) and from 3-point range (80 percent, 4-of-5).
 
The Eagles used a 10-run in the second half to lead by as many as 17 and no fewer than six in the second half. Eastern made a season-best 64.6 percent of its shots to offset the 50.0 percent shooting for SUU, as Bliznyuk sank 13-of-17 from the field and 5-of-7 from the free throw line.
 
Redshirt freshman Jacob Davison added 16 points and five rebounds while making all nine of his free throw attempts, and senior Benas Griciunas came off the bench to make all seven of his field goals and score 14 points.
 
"It's a big thing for our program to get to 20 wins," said Eastern head coach Shantay Legans. "The guys deserve it and they did everything we asked them to do all season long. To be able to p lay for a championship is what you are trying to do when the season starts."
 
Eastern advances to Saturday's championship game versus regular season champion Montana at 5 p.m., with the winner receiving a berth into the NCAA Tournament. The Grizzlies, now 24-7 with its best season in school history, beat fifth-seeded Northern Colorado 91-89 in Friday's other semifinal game to advance to the winner-take-all game to be broadcast on ESPNU and via watchespn.com.
 
"It wasn't as exciting as the first semifinal, but at the same time our players played with a lot of poise," said Legans of his team's victory. "Southern Utah is a good team and has a good coach, and they have some good players. For us to play with poise at the end and make the big plays when we needed to was huge for us. It helps to have Bogdan – he makes it real easy on me."
 
The Eagles have advanced to the Big Dance in 2004 and 2015, were in the NIT in 2003 and have played in the last two College Basketball Invitational (CBI) tournaments.
 
Bliznyuk secured the record less than five minutes into the game. With a 3-pointer 2:45 into the game, he tied the 24-year old league record of 2,102 points set by Orlando Lightfoot from Idaho in three seasons from 1991-94. Bliznyuk then hit a free throw 30 seconds later to own sole possession of the record, and went on to increase his total to 2,127 points in 136 career games. Just five players layer in the 55-year history of the league have hit the 2,000-point mark, and he stands above them all.
 
"It's definitely an honor and there have been a lot of great players in this conference," said Bliznyuk. "I'm just really happy that our team was composed and we are playing for a trip to the NCAA Tournament."
 
The Big Sky MVP tied the league record by playing in his ninth Big Sky Tournament game, and went on to break the scoring record as well in the second half. He now has 178 points to break the record of 165 set by current Utah coach Larry Krystkowiak from Montana from 1983-86. His 65 career field goals are also a record.
 
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 Feb. 28 versus Southern Utah and a Big Sky and EWU record 46 two days later at Northern Arizona, and now has 2,120 in her career to also rank third all-time in the league (29 years).
 
 
Records . . .
 
* The Eagles are 20-13 on the season and finished 13-5 in the Big Sky, and have won 16 of their last 21 games after a 3-8 start. The Eagles are 11-1 at home, 6-11 on opponent home courts and 3-1 at neutral sites this season, finishing 5-4 on the road in the league season and 8-1 at home.
 
* The Thunderbirds are now 13-19, and had defeated second-seeded Idaho 92-78 in the other quarterfinal on EWU's side of the bracket to advance to the semis. Southern Utah beat seventh-seeded Idaho State 76-68 in the first round on Tuesday.
 
* The Eagles split against SUU in the regular season, falling 66-62 in overtime on Jan. 20, then rebounding for a 74-51 home win on March 1.  Bliznyuk averaged 25 points and 11 rebounds in the two games, but also had 11 turnovers and eight fouls. Jamal Aytes averaged 13.0 points against the Eagles on 61.1 percent shooting (11-of-18).\
 

What's Next in Reno . . .
 
* The championship game is at 5 p.m. on Saturday and will be televised by ESPNU and via watchespn.com. The winner of the game receives a berth into the NCAA Tournament. The Eagles have advanced to the Big Dance in 2004 and 2015, were in the NIT in 2003 and have played in the last two College Basketball Invitational (CBI) tournaments.
 
* Besides the television broadcast, 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. 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.
 
 
EWU's Tournament History . . .
 
* Now in its 31st year as a member of the league, Eastern is making its 16th appearance in the Big Sky Conference Tournament. The Eagles have a record of 15-13 in its 28 games -- 1-0 in the first round, 5-5 in the quarterfinals, 7-4 in the semifinals and 2-4 in the championship. The Eagles advanced to the title game in 1990, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004 and 2015, and won the title in 2004 and 2015. Before winning the 2015 title, Eastern hadn't appeared in the tournament at all since the 2011-12 and 2010-11 seasons, which were EWU's first since 2006. The Eagles qualified for each tournament from 1998-2006.
 

Keys to Game . . .
 
* Once again, the Eagles had a fast start to take an early 11-6 lead less than four minutes into the game. Eastern had runs of 6-0 and 8-0 to build a double-digit lead, then a 7-0 run gave EWU a 32-18 lead with eight minutes left in the half. True freshman Jack Perry hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to give the Eagles a 43-31 advantage at intermission. Eastern's also led early 18-8 and 35-15 versus Portland State on Thursday in the quarterfinals, and the Eagles have now led at halftime in 14 of its last 20 games, including double-digit leads in 10 of them. In the last five games alone, Eastern has led by 13, 22, 13, 16 and 12 at intermission (average of 15.2 per game), including a 44-22 lead versus Southern Utah on March 1. Eastern has held opponents to 28 points or less in the first half of 10 of its last 19 games, with a pair in which they scored at least 48. In fact, of the 17 total games Eastern has had this season in which they've held opponents to 29 points or less, 14 of them have come in the first half. The Eagles are 17-3 in the 20 total games when they've led at intermission.
 

Turning Point . . .
 
* Despite a 4-of-4 shooting start to begin the second half, the Eagles lost ground on the lead when SUU made its first five to cut EWU's lead to seven. But Bliznyuk and Benas Griciunas combined for all 10 points in a 10-0 Eagle run to open a 62-45 lead with 11:16 left. The Thunderbirds missed didn't score for 3:27 and missed three field goals, two free throws and a had a turnover in that stretch while EWU was 4-of-5 from the field and 2-of-2 from the line. Eastern led by no less than six the rest of the way.

 
Top Performers . . .
 
* Eastern all-time leading scorer Bogdan Bliznyuk finished with 32 points on 13-of-17 shooting overall and 5-of-7 from the 3-point stripe. It was his sixth 30-point performance of the season and 13th of his career. He now has 17 performances this season of at least 20 points and 43 in his career, and has had 30 double-figure scoring performances this season and 98 in his career. He had his NCAA Division I single season record for consecutive free throws made snapped at 77 versus Portland State one night in the quarterfinals, a span of 18 games from Dec. 31 to March 8 in which he did not miss.
* Seven-foot Benas Griciunas came off the bench to make all seven of his shots and finish with 14 points in just 18 minutes. It was his seventh double-figure scoring performance of the season, but first in his last seven games after a string of three-straight.
* Redshirt freshman Jacob Davison finished with 16 points and five rebounds. It was his ninth performance of the season scoring in double figures.
* Sophomore Mason Peatling had nine points and three steals, but had only one rebound and no blocked shots. He has scored in double figures 10 times this season and 14 times in his career, and has had at least 10 boards on six occasions both this season and in his career.
 
 
Key Stats . . .

* Eastern had one stretch with six-straight field goals made, and two others of five to start the game 21-of-28. In the first half, Southern Utah had a stretch of seven-straight misses, enabling the Eagles to have its best-shooting half of the season at 70.8 percent, compared to 42.9 percent for the Thunderbirds. Eastern went on to sink a season-best 64.6 percent, besting the previous best of 57.1 percent at Sacramento State on Feb. 1. The Eagles have had 50-percent shooting performances in six of their last eight games to improve to 12-0 this season when they hit that mark. Most recently, EWU sank 52.0 percent in its quarterfinal win over Portland State. For the season, Eastern is now 18-2 when they out-shoot their opponents and 2-11 when they don't. Eastern has had all 12 of its 50-percent shooting nights in the last 21 games. In the 57.1 percent performance against Sacramento State on Feb. 1, Bogdan Bliznyuk made 15-of-18 shots on his way to a 40-point night. Defensively, Eastern had its best performance of the season against Southern Utah on March 1 for points allowed (51) and field goal percentage (32.3 percent). Eastern also held Sacramento State to 54 points on 41.1 percent shooting from the field on Feb. 1 in a 20-point Eagle win. The Hornets made only 2-of-15 3-pointers, EWU's second-best defensive effort of the season behind the 2-of-16 performance by Stanford in EWU's 67-61 victory there on Nov. 14.
 
 
Series History/Tournament History Versus SUU . . .

* The Eagles are now 11-5 all-time against Southern Utah (6-1 in Cheney, 4-4 in Cedar City, 1-0 neutral court), but had its eight-game winning streak snapped with a 66-62 overtime loss on Jan. 20, 2018. The Eagles have triumphed in the six five home meetings since losing the first game in Cheney in the series by a 70-68 score on Dec. 21, 1993. The Thunderbirds joined the Big Sky in the 2012-13 season and EWU is 9-2 versus them since then, but they have never faced each other in the league tourney.
 
 
Other Team Highlights . . .
 
* At 20-13 on the season, the Eastern basketball program has hit a threshold that has occurred just four times now in Eastern's 35-year history in NCAA Division I. Since 1983-84, the only other times EWU has won 20 games came in 1985-86 (20-8), 2014-15 (26-9) and last year in 2016-17 (22-12). This year's team is just one of six in the school's 35-year NCAA Division I history to have at least 18, including the last four seasons in a row.
 
* Fourth-year seniors Bogdan Bliznyuk and Sir Washington both played in EWU's 2015 NCAA Tournament game versus Georgetown. Bliznyuk now has nine games of Big Sky Tournament experience, equaling the tournament career record of nine. Eastern has gone 7-2 thus far in his four seasons as an Eagle. Washington has played in six games, but was injured and didn't play in 2015. Entering Friday's semifinals, Bliznyuk averaged 18.3 points, 5.5 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game in the league tournament. Besides his 35 points and seven rebounds against Portland State in 2018, he scored 32 points with eight rebounds in the 2017 semifinals versus Weber State, and had 18 points, nine rebounds and six assists in the quarterfinals against Sac State. Washington has averaged 5.8 points, 3.4 rebounds and 0.6 assists in the five games he's played, including an 11-point effort last year versus the Hornets and seven this year versus PSU. Eastern went on to lose to Georgetown 84-74 in the NCAA Tournament, with Bliznyuk finishing with 11 points, six rebounds and a pair of assists after earning Big Sky Freshman of the Year honors. Washington missed the Big Sky Tournament with an injury, but was 2-of-2 from the field and 2-of-2 from the free line to finish with six points and a pair of rebounds in five minutes against the Hoyas.
 
* Head coach Shantay Legans has coached in two Big Sky Conference Tournament games as a head coach and 10 as an assistant, with a record of 8-4 in five appearances. Eastern's 2014-15 squad won the title and advanced to the NCAA Tournament with a trio of victories in Missoula, Montana. Included was a come-from-behind 69-65 over the host Grizzlies in the championship game.
 
* Eastern entered the SUU game with its first seven-game winning streak in more than a year, since winning seven-in-a-row in the 2015-16 conference campaign. Eastern hasn't had an eight-game streak since winning 11 in a row in the 2003-04 NCAA Tournament season. Not surprisingly, Bogdan Bliznyuk led Eastern in that seven-game stretch by averaging 24.3 points, 7.6 rebounds and 5.1 assists per game. But it's the play of a trio of underclassmen making the biggest difference for EWU during the streak. True freshman Jack Perry has averaged 10.9 points, redshirt freshman Jacob Davison has averaged 10.6 points and sophomore Mason Peatling has averages of 9.6 points, 8.3 rebounds and 1.4 blocked shots. All four of those players have made at least 52.2 percent of their shots from the field, and the trio of Bliznyuk, Davison and Perry have combined to go 44-of-88 (50.0 percent) from the 3-point arc. As a team, Eastern has out-scored opponents by an average of 10.0 points per game (77.7 to 67.7), and has made 51.6 percent from the field compared to 42.9 percent for opponents. From 3-point range, Eastern has a 43.6 percent to 35.1 percent advantage. Rebounding has also been a key, with EWU having a +2.6 margin and advantages in five of the seven games. In EWU's first 25 games of the season, the Eagles had a rebounding advantage in just eight of them.
 
 
Notables . . .
 
* First-year head coach Shantay Legans is the 18th coach in Eastern history, and has made history of his own. His 20 wins is the most by a first-year Eastern coach in EWU's NCAA Division I era, besting Ray Giacoletti with 17 in the 2000-01 season. Joe Folda also won 17 games in 1982-83 as an interim head coach during Eastern's rise from NAIA to NCAA Division I. Thus, you have to go back to the 1942-43 season when Bob Brumblay won 27 games in his debut season to find a rookie Eastern coach with more than 18 victories, which is also the only time it's happened. Legans was a an Eastern assistant for eight years before becoming EWU's 10th coach at the NCAA Division I level this season. Legans spent six years on the staff of Jim Hayford (now head coach at Seattle), and two previous seasons under former head coach Kirk Earlywine (now an assistant at Idaho). Legans was associate head coach under Hayford for the final three of those eight seasons. He has been a part of Eastern teams from the 2013-14 through 2017-18 seasons which have win totals of 15, 26, 18, 22 and 20 games. The three 20-victory seasons are the top three win totals in EWU's 35-year history in NCAA Division I (Eastern also won 20 games in 1985-86). The combined 101 wins in five seasons, 85 victories in four seasons, 66 in three and 44 in two are also the most since EWU became a member of NCAA Division I in the 1983-84 season. The same can be said of EWU's stretch of league victories -- 10, 14, 10, 13, 13 -- in that five-year span. A former player at Cal and Fresno State, Legans is married to former Eastern women's basketball player Tatjana Sparavalo. Their daughter, Zola Lee, was born June 16, 2016, and they have a son due to be born later March 29.
 
* Seniors Bogdan Bliznyuk and Sir Washington will end their careers as EWU's winningest players in EWU's 35-year history as a member of NCAA Division I. Eastern has won 86 games overall and 50 in the Big Sky Conference. Washington redshirted in the 2013-14 season, then they both played as freshmen in 2014-15. Eastern has won 26, 18, 22 and 20 games since then for the best four-year stretch in EWU's Division I history, and most since winning 106 from 1942-43 to 1945-46. The Eagles have had Big Sky Conference win totals of 14, 10, 13 and 13 since Washington and Bliznyuk were freshman – again, the best four-game stretch in 31 seasons as a member of the Big Sky. Former Eagle Felix Von Hofe was formerly the winningest Eagle with 81 overall wins and 47 league wins from 2013-14 through 2016-17.
 
* The Eagles beat every Big Sky team other than second-seeded Idaho this season, and finished third after being predicted to finish sixth by the media and seventh by the coaches in the league's preseason polls. Included in this year's league triumphs was the school's first road sweep in two years in late February, including a win over Weber State to give EWU a tiebreaker advantage in the league. Eastern snapped the nine-game winning streak of the Wildcats, and one game earlier handed regular season champion Montana its first league loss after 13 victories. 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.
 
 
Series History/Tournament History Versus Montana  . . .
 
Eastern is 1-4 versus the Griz in the Big Sky Tournament. Besides beating UM 69-65 in the championship game in Missoula in 2015, EWU lost 74-66 in the 2012 semifinals in Missoula; 73-71 in overtime in the 2006 semifinals in Flagstaff, Ariz.; 58-48 in the 2005 quarterfinals in Missoula; and 70-66 in the 2002 championship in Bozeman. Eastern is 22-50 against the Grizzlies since becoming a member of NCAA Division I in 1983-84, including a 10-27 record in Missoula, 12-21 in Cheney and 0-2 on neutral courts. Montana leads the overall series 67-43. The Eagles triumphed the last time they played the Griz in Cheney, and have won three of the last four meetings in Missoula. Until winning 75-69 on Feb. 4, 2015, the Eagles had lost their last 12 meetings in Missoula, dating back to a 71-52 Eagle win on Feb. 7, 2004. The Eagles would also beat the Grizzlies on their home floor in the 2015 Big Sky Conference Championship game, giving the Eagles a berth in the NCAA Tournament. Including EWU's three-game sweep there to capture the 2015 Big Sky Conference Tournament title, EWU has won five of its last six games at Dahlberg Arena in Missoula (including three of four versus UM). Overall, Eastern has lost 22 of the last 29 meetings against the Griz.
 
 
Previous Game Recap Versus Montana . . .
 
Becoming the first Big Sky Conference team to knock off the unbeaten league leaders, Eastern made a three-point halftime lead hold up in the second half en route to an impressive 74-65 win over previously unbeaten Montana on Feb. 15 at Reese Court. Led by the 27 combined points by Bogdan Bliznyuk and Benas Griciunas in the first half, eight different Eagles scored in the second half. Redshirt freshman Jacob Davison scored all 12 of his points after halftime as EWU didn't trail for the last 35 minutes, and led for the final 25:42. The victory versus the league-leading Grizzlies ended Montana's 13-game winning streak. Eastern's all-time leading scorer, Bliznyuk finished with a team-high 19 for the Eagles, with 15 of those coming in the first half. That gave him 1,944 points in his illustrious career to move into the top five in Big Sky Conference history.  Eastern won the rebounding battle 30-27 – just the ninth time this season EWU has had an advantage on the boards (7-2 record). The Eagles shot at a 56.3 percent clip while holding Montana to 43.1 percent. Behind combined 13-of-14 shooting, Bliznyuk and Griciunas combined for 27 of EWU's first-half points in a first half that EWU led 35-32. Eastern made seven-straight shots at one point in the half and used an 8-0 run to take a 21-15 lead with 10:02 left. At one point EWU was 10-of-14 from the field. Eastern extended a three-point halftime lead to its biggest lead of the game at 44-36 by scoring 10 of the first 14 points of the second half. Eastern's lead fluctuated between two and seven points for the next 10 minutes until EWU opened up another eight-point lead with 3:22 to play on a 3-pointer by Davison. Montana went 4:31 without a basket during that stretch, as EWU extended the lead to 11 and led by no less than five in the final 3 1/2 minutes. Griciunas had his third-straight double figure game and sixth of the season with 14 points. He made a pair of free throws in the second half after sinking all six of his field goal attempts in the first half. Davison scored all 12 of his points in the second half, finishing the game 4-of-6 from the field with a pair of 3-pointers. He also had four rebounds, and Bliznyuk chipped in six rebounds and five assists as he finished 8-of-13 from the field. Sophomore Mason Peatling had nine points, four rebounds, three assists and a blocked shot in just 24 minutes of action.