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Eastern Washington University Basketball

EWU Eagles lose to NAU, finish second in Big Sky men’s race

Bogdan Bliznyuk scored 28 points to lead the Eagles in their loss to Northern Arizona. (EWU photo)
Associated Press

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. – Jordyn Martin and JoJo Anderson scored 20 points each and Northern Arizona beat Eastern Washington 76-61 on Saturday night to deny the Eagles a share of the Big Sky Conference regular-season championship.

EWU (21-10, 13-5) could have tied North Dakota (14-4) for the league championship with a victory, but had a poor first half and was unable to catch the Lumberjacks (9-22, 6-12). The Eagles will be the No. 2 seed and have a bye into the quarterfinals for the conference tournament in Reno, Nevada. Northern Arizona will be the ninth seed and play eighth seed Portland State on Tuesday.

EWU took 25 shots in the first half, all but four from the arc, and made just six – all 3-pointers. The Lumberjacks took an 11-point lead on a basket by Ako Kaluna midway through the first half and led by double figures the rest of the way.

Kaluna finished with 16 points while Martin added 10 rebounds.

Bogdan Bliznyuk scored 28 points to lead the Eagles with Felix Von Hofe adding 15. Jacob Wiley, EWU’s leading scorer at more than 20 points per game, scored just five points but had 10 rebounds.