EWU beats Seattle in 2OT for 2nd time in 12 days

SEATTLE – Bogdan Bliznyuk scored 31 points with 12 rebounds, Felix Von Hofe added 19 points and Eastern Washington defeated Seattle in double overtime for the second time in 12 days, pulling out a 93-88 win on Sunday.

Von Hofe had a trey and Bliznyuk scored four points in a 9-0 run that gave EWU an 86-79 lead with 1:07 left in the second OT. Von Hofe, Sir Washington and Bliznyuk all made two free throws in the final 28 seconds to secure the win.

Von Hofe’s late 3-pointer forced overtime as the Eagles erased a 14-point deficit.

Seattle’s Morgan Means hit a 3 with four seconds left to tie the game at 75 in the first extra session.

The Eagles (6-2), who won the first meeting 80-76, made 11 3-pointers and went 20 of 22 from the foul line.

Brendan Westendorf had 26 points for Seattle (2-5), which went 21 of 34 from the line. William Powell had 19 points with 10 rebounds and Aaron Menzies had 18 points with 16 boards.

EWU survived a 1-of-19 shooting stretch to finish at 42 percent for the game with 11 3-pointers. Cody Benzel added 12 points for the Eagles, and senior Jacob Wiley had 10 points, eight rebounds, five blocked shots, five assists and a pair of steals.

The victory was EWU’s fifth in a row, all by six points or less. Now 6-2, this Eagles team became just the third team in EWU’s 34-year history as a member of NCAA Division I to have a 6-2 or better start, joining the 2014-15 and 2008-09 squads to achieve that feat.

“It’s the kind of win when you go on the road and gain confidence,” said Eastern head coach Jim Hayford. “It’s going to be a season like this with a lot of close games – we’ve played more overtime games this year than we have the last three years. This is the kind of win that can breed more wins.”

Brendan Westendorf had 26 points for Seattle (2-5), which went 21 of 34 from the line. William Powell had 19 points with 10 rebounds and Aaron Menzies had 18 points with 16 boards.