Bliznyuk Leads Eagles Over Bryant
Cheney, Wash. — It’s time to play for a tournament title, and Bogdan Bliznyuk was up to the challenge to get the Eagles there.
The Eagle junior scored a career-high 32 points to pace the Eastern Washington University men’s basketball team past Bryant 81-77 Monday (Nov. 21) at Reese Court in the Legends Classic sub-regional round in Cheney.
Bliznyuk scored 21 of his points in the first half, including seven during a key run that gave EWU a nine-point halftime lead. Cody Benzel added 12 with four 3-pointers made, including a pair during an important 11-3 run in the second half that gave EWU an 11-point advantage. The Eagles were out-shot 49 percent to 44 percent, but had a dominating 36-25 rebounding advantage and made their last 18 free throws of the game.
The Eagles advance to play Seattle in the championship game at 6 p.m. Pacific time on Tuesday (Nov. 22), while the Bulldogs will play in the consolation game against Louisiana Monroe at 3:35. The Seattle Redhawks beat the ULM Warhawks 81-75 in overtime in Monday’s first game.
