Jois scores 38 as Eastern beats Seattle U

SEATTLE — Venky Jois scored 38 points for the second straight game to lead Eastern Washington to an 87-75 win over Seattle at KeyArena on Saturday night.

Jois scored 38 points Nov. 30 in a 104-87 win over Eastern Oregon and matched the total on 13-of-18 shooting from the field and 12 of 15 from the line against the Redhawks.

Tyler Harvey added 18 points and Ognjen Miljkovic added 14 as the Eagles won for the seventh time in eight games to open the season and are enjoying their best start in almost four decades.

Eastern Washington (7-1) got off to a fast start against Seattle, racing to a 44-25 lead at intermission, shooting 53 percent from the field in the half on 17-of-32 shooting.

Isiah Umipig scored 24 points to lead the Redhawks (3-5), with Jarell Flora and Jadon Cohee each adding another 12 points.

The game was the first of five consecutive road games for the Eagles, who play Thursday at San Francisco.

Eastern is 7-1 for the first time since 1977, when EWU began a 25-4 NAIA campaign with a 15-1 mark. Eastern’s 5-1 start had equaled EWU’s best in 32 seasons as a member of NCAA Division I, matching the 1985-86 season, when EWU finished 20-8.