Bench players play big part in Eagles' wins over Weber, Idaho State
Eastern Washington's Sir Washington (4) drives to the basket in last Saturday's 65-57 Eagles' men's Big Sky Conference basketball victory over Idaho State. The Eagles' Bogdan Bliznyuk (32) hustles in for a possible rebound. The win completed a Reese Court sweep for EWU and kept them undefeated at home at 8-0 this season following a come-from-behind 84-78 victory New Years Day against Weber State. Eastern is on the road the next two weeks.
When Eastern Washington needed to get things in gear in the opening week of Big Sky Conference men's basketball play, the Eagles found the right players in the clutch.
Facing an eight point deficit with 5 minutes, 57 seconds remaining against defending champion Weber State on New Years Day, Parker Kelly came to the rescue to deliver all of his six points to salvage an 84-78 win over the Wildcats.
Two days later when Idaho State had carved away at Eastern's nine-point lead, trimming it to an uneasy 55-53 advantage with 4:55 to play, it was bench player, junior Felix Von Hofe who delivered back-to-back 3-point shots and the Eagles survived for a 65-57 win.
So the prospect of a grim 0-2 start turned to the glee of being 2-0, defending Reese Court's so far perfect 8-0 mark which is so important to seeing Eastern get back to postseason.
Eastern improved to 11-4 overall and now embarks on the road for the next two weeks, first visiting the University of Idaho Saturday, Jan. 10, at 7:05 p.m. at the Cowan Spectrum inside the Kibbe Dome.
Von Hofe was just one of the players who came off the bench and delivered big. Freshman Bogdan Bliznyuk turned in a career-high effort with 17 points, part of a 30-point contribution from reserves, also a best for the season.
"Felix is disappointed if his 3-point shooting percentage isn't over 50 percent," EWU head coach Jim Hayford said. "At the end of the Weber State game I told him he was going to have a big game against Idaho State."
That helped make up for the off-night from the nation's second-leading and conference's leading scorer, Tyler Harvey, who scored just 16 after averaging 27.5. Venky Jois, the team's second leading scorer, matched Harvey's 16 versus the Bengals.
"Idaho State had a great game plan, they extended out on Tyler, so it was going to be hard for Tyler to score," Hayford said. "The next part of their game plan was to double Venky inside which makes him not be able to finish and distribute."
That opened the door for Bliznyuk, and Von Hofe, who finished with nine points.
Idaho State was the Big Sky's leading defensive team, holding opponents to an average of 65.1 points per game.
"I could have told you it wasn't going to be a real fun game to watch, (playing) Idaho State's like going to the dentist," Hayford said in a postgame radio interview.
While Idaho State (0-2 Big Sky, 3-11 overall) was able to contain Harvey, Weber State (0-2, 5-8) was not as the junior poured in a career-high 39 points. He made 12-of-19 shots from the floor including 7-of-10 3-pointers, and also made all eight of his free throws.
But it was the team as a whole that drew Hayford's praise.
"What I was most pleased with tonight was that our team just fought and showed grit - whatever that word is that describes refusing to lose," he said.
Trailing 71-63 inside six minutes, Eastern used a game-ending 21-7 run to topple Weber and it all began with Kelly who was fouled while shooting a 3-pointer and promptly sunk all three free throws. Kelly's 3-pointer with 1:45 to go put the Eagles up 77-75. Weber's final field goal came with seven minutes left.
A Drew Brandon jam made it 79-75 with 1:04 to go and then free throws from Brandon and Harvey wrapped it up.
Besides Harvey, Jois, who had 18 points, were the only Eagles in double figures. Eastern shot 45.5 percent and Weber 41.4, but were out rebounded 42-28.
Eastern is now 11-4 on the season, 2-0 in the Big Sky.
Paul Delaney can be reached at [email protected].
Reader Comments(0)