EWU sets school record with 126-64 win over George Fox

Eastern Washington showed that its high-scoring offense that took them to an NCAA Tournament berth last season was no fluke in Sunday’s 126-64 win over Division III opponent George Fox in Cheney.

The Eagles (1-1) shot 63.3 percent from the field in EWU’s home opener at Reese Court, breaking the school record for points of 124 set in 1969 against Eastern Montana.

Coach Jim Hayford said he knew the Eagles were going to score a lot with their fast-paced style against the Bruins press, But it wasn’t the 126 points that stood out to Hayford.

“We’re going to score points,” Hayford said. “Where we want to get better is the implementation of our new attacking defensive scheme and I was really pleased to see 27 turnovers, and then almost doubling them up in rebounding (49-25).”

Senior forward Venky Jois, the Big Sky’s preseason MVP selection, led the Eagles with 29 points on 13-of-15 shooting. Senior guard Austin McBroom added 19 points and 10 assists and sophomore forward Bogdan Bliznyuk 19 points and 12 rebounds.

Freshman center Jacoby Wolfe led the Bruins with 19 points.

Junior forward Felix Von Hofe sat out Sunday’s contest to rest, Hayford said. Von Hofe scored 21 points, making five 3-pointers, in EWU’s 106-88 loss to Mississippi State on Friday.

McBroom, a graduate transfer from Saint Louis, was dynamic on both ends of the floor, finishing with 19 points, 10 assists, five rebounds and three steals.

The point guard said has adjusted nicely to EWU’s offense and his teammates around him.

“I think coach gives me a lot of freedom to make plays,” McBroom said. “I have a lot of guys that can make shots around me and bigs that can finish.”

McBroom’s ability to break the press allowed EWU to gash George Fox’s press time and time again.

“When you have something close to an untrappable point guard, all of the things they were doing resulted in four-on-threes and three-on-twos,” he said.

With about 10 minutes remaining in the game, there was a brief scare when McBroom fell hard on his right shoulder after being fouled driving to the basket and was writhing in pain. He had an icepack on his shoulder after the game but said he will be ready for Tuesday’s home matchup against Seattle University.

The Eagles will host the Redhawks at Reese Court for their third game in five days. Tip-off is scheduled for 6:05 p.m.