Eastern men lose Big Sky opener to Weber State after quick start

OGDEN, Utah – Jeremy Senglin scored 16 points and Joel Bolomboy added 13 with 12 rebounds as Weber State defeated Eastern Washington 74-67 in a Big Sky Conference opener Thursday night.

The Wildcats (4-5, 1-0) erased an early 10-0 deficit, closing the first half on an 18-7 run to take a four-point lead into the break. Senglin hit two 3-pointers to help push that lead to 58-47 at the 11:49 mark.

Eastern Washington (5-7, 0-1) cut the deficit to three after a Venky Jois layup with 1:42 remaining, but Jois was blocked by Bolomboy on the ensuing possession.

Bolomboy and Jordan Richardson each sank a pair of free throws in the final minute to cap the scoring.

Weber State shot 48.1 percent from the field. Kyle Tresnak had 13 points and seven boards for the Wildcats.

Tyler Harvey led the Eagles with a career-high 30 points and Jois added 14 with seven rebounds.

“If we continue to do this on the road, we are going to get a lot of conference wins,” Eastern coach Jim Hayford said. “Weber State is a really good, tough team at home.

“There is never consolation in a loss, but we have to keep focused on two things – first, whether our players are giving us energy, determination and grit. I thought they did that tonight. And are we playing smart enough and staying with the scouting report? I think we did that.”