Eastern Washington Eagles vs Southern Utah Thunderbirds
| 1 | 2 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 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
Reno, NV
Referee:Ruben Ramos
Referee:Deldre Carr
Referee:Kelly Pfeifer
2025-26 Standings
| Western Athletic Conference | CONF | GB | OVR |
|---|---|---|---|
| UT Arlington | 5-2 | - | 13-6 |
| California Baptist | 5-3 | 0.5 | 15-6 |
| Utah Valley | 5-3 | 0.5 | 15-6 |
| Utah Tech | 4-4 | 1.5 | 11-11 |
| Southern Utah | 3-5 | 2.5 | 7-14 |
| Abilene Christian | 2-4 | 2.5 | 10-9 |
| Tarleton State | 2-5 | 3 | 11-9 |
| Big Sky Conference | CONF | GB | OVR |
|---|---|---|---|
| Portland State | 7-0 | - | 13-5 |
| Montana State | 7-1 | 0.5 | 13-8 |
| Montana | 6-2 | 1.5 | 12-9 |
| Idaho | 4-3 | 3 | 12-8 |
| Weber State | 4-4 | 3.5 | 10-11 |
| Eastern Washington | 3-4 | 4 | 5-15 |
| Idaho State | 3-5 | 4.5 | 10-11 |
| Sacramento State | 2-5 | 5 | 6-13 |
| Northern Colorado | 1-7 | 6.5 | 11-10 |
| Northern Arizona | 1-7 | 6.5 | 7-14 |
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