1 | 2 | T | |
---|---|---|---|
SUU | 31 | 39 | 70 |
EWU | 43 | 39 | 82 |
Bliznyuk breaks Big Sky scoring mark, EWU advances to finals
RENO, Nev. -- Bogdan Bliznyuk made 13 of 17 from the field and finished with 32 points to become to Big Sky Conference's career-scoring leader as Eastern Washington beat Southern Utah 82-70 on Friday night in the semifinals of the conference tournament.
Bliznyuk, who has 2,127 career points, moved past Idaho's Orlando Lightfoot, who scored 2,102 from 1991-94.
The third-seeded Eagles, who have won eight in a row, will play No. 1 seed Montana in Saturday's championship game. Eastern Washington beat the Grizzlies 74-65 in the only regular-season matchup between the teams this season.
Bliznyuk, the conference MVP this season, broke the record with a free throw that gave third-seeded EWU (20-13) the lead for good about five minutes and a jumper by Benas Griciunas capped a 10-0 run that made it 62-45 with 11 minutes to go. Jamal Aytes' layup with 2:37 left capped an 11-2 run and trimmed Southern Utah's deficit to 72-66, but Jacob Davison scored eight points from there as EWU held on.
Dwayne Morgan and Jadon Cohee scored 15 points apiece for No. 10 seed (13-19) SUU.
Davison finished with 16 points and Griciunas scored 14 on 7-of-7 shooting. The Eagles shot a season-high 64.4 percent (31 of 48) from the field.
Game Information
- Referees:
- Ruben Ramos
- Deldre Carr
- Kelly Pfeifer
2023-24 Western Athletic Conference Standings
Team | CONF | GB | OVR |
---|---|---|---|
Grand Canyon | 17-3 | - | 30-5 |
Tarleton State | 16-4 | 1 | 25-10 |
UT Arlington | 13-7 | 4 | 20-14 |
Seattle U | 11-9 | 6 | 23-14 |
Utah Valley | 11-9 | 6 | 16-16 |
Stephen F. Austin | 10-10 | 7 | 18-15 |
Abilene Christian | 10-10 | 7 | 16-18 |
California Baptist | 8-12 | 9 | 16-17 |
Utah Tech | 7-13 | 10 | 11-20 |
Southern Utah | 5-15 | 12 | 10-21 |
UT Rio Grande Valley | 2-18 | 15 | 6-25 |
2023-24 Big Sky Conference Standings
Team | CONF | GB | OVR |
---|---|---|---|
Eastern Washington | 15-3 | - | 21-11 |
Montana | 12-6 | 3 | 24-12 |
Northern Colorado | 12-6 | 3 | 19-14 |
Weber State | 11-7 | 4 | 20-12 |
Montana State | 9-9 | 6 | 17-18 |
Portland State | 8-10 | 7 | 17-15 |
Northern Arizona | 7-11 | 8 | 14-19 |
Idaho State | 7-11 | 8 | 14-20 |
Idaho | 5-13 | 10 | 11-21 |
Sacramento State | 4-14 | 11 | 10-24 |