Recap: @UNCO_MBB Fall in a Close One at @EWUMBB

Saturday, January 27

Cheney, Wash.

3:00 pm

University of Northern Colorado

5-414-8/ Big Sky

Eastern Washington University

6-311-11/ BigSky

Northern Colorado

Eastern Washington

1/27/2018 7:07:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

By: Kurt Maddox, UNCBears.com

Cheney, Wash.—Northern Colorado continued its balanced attack as four Bears finished with double-digits but Eastern Washington hit its free throws late to pull out the win over the Bears 67-65. UNC (14-8, 5-4) saw EWU (11-11, 6-3) shoot 10 more free throws and score six more points from the foul stripe in the second half to end the Bears three-game winning streak.

How It Happened
Eastern Washington jumped out to the lead under the power of Bogdan Bliznyuk and every time UNC tied or get close Bliznyuk and the Eagles pulled away with 4-0 runs. The Bears were continuing their momentum of a balanced attack with eight minutes to go in the first, four Bears had five points each.

Jonah Radebaugh picked up two fouls early on and head coach Jeff Linder had to find someone else to guard Bliznyuk and he put Jordan Davis on him. The switch worked for a few minutes until Bliznyuk hit a 3 when the game was tied at 31. Andre Spight loves to wait until the last second to put up a shot and he did it again at the halftime buzzer. After two free throws by EWU's Jack Perry, UNC drove up the court got the ball to Spight and he threw up a 3 at the buzzer. Of course, it went in, but he was fouled on the play as well. Dre hit his freebie with no time on the clock to send UNC to the locker room with the 37-36 lead.

UNC started the second half with a 6-2 run to carry over the momentum from the end of the first. The Bears defense held EWU scoreless for over three minutes and kept the lead until 9:45 left in the game. The Eagles proceeded to go on a 10-0 streak and did not look back. Northern Colorado did tie the game twice and it was all locked up with under two minutes to go.

Spight missed a jumper with 13 seconds left and Eastern Washington grabbed the board. The Eagles pushed down the floor and Jordan Davis was called for a foul on Sir Washington. Washington hit both foul shots and the Eagles led by two. With eight seconds left, coach Linder drew up a play and for Spight. UNC drove down the floor and Dre put up a three from the left wing, rimming out and giving EWU the close win.

Game Changer
Bogdan Bliznyuk kept the Eagles in the game early as he scored 19 of his 26 in the first half. After the switch on defense for UNC, Bliznyuk was neutralized but Mason Peatling took over for EWU and finished with a double-double (17 points and 15 rebounds). The two players combined for 64.0 percent of the Eagles' points.

Key Stat
UNC did go 10-13 from the foul line but seven of the ten makes were in the first half. On the other hand, Eastern Washington went 13 of 17 from the charity stripe for the game but nine of the 13 were in the second half. No more important than the last two by Sir Washington to win the game.

What They Said

Head Coach Jeff Linder
Opening Statement
"This was a great effort by the team. You go into the locker room and what can you do. You gave yourself a chance on the road. Whenever it comes down to the last play, was JD trying to foul…no but you make that mistake you learn from it. We also had the ball in the right guys' hands to finish the game and for whatever reason, the ball decided to bounce in for him. We had the right effort. We were resilient and responded when we got down but ultimately, we came up a little bit short. It wasn't from the lack of effort. We did a really good job of guarding in the second half. We made a few little adjustments. Bogdan had all those points early and we made it hard for him to catch it. Give them (EWU) credit them credit for making one more play to win the game."

On adjustments at the half
"We really just tried to keep it out of his (Bliznyuk) hands and turned it into a four on four game. You have to live and die by them making twos and they did a good job of making enough twos. They zoned us the entire game. We got paint touches but the ball just didn't go in."

Notable Stats

UNC's hot hands cooled down at Reese Court. The Bears went 7-for-18 from deep while that is above their season average but not like the win over Idaho.
For the second-straight game, Northern Colorado outrebounded its opponents. The Bears pulled down 39 while EWU had 36 boards.
The Bears made the most of their offensive rebounds. UNC had 12 second-chance points while EWU only had four.

What's Next
The Bears next home games will be February 1st and 3rd when they welcome Montana then Montana State to Bank of Colorado Arena. Tickets are available at UNCBears.com/Tickets, at the UNCBox Office M-F from 10 am-5pm or at 970.351.1679 during business hours.
UNC then will head back out on the road to face Idaho State February 8 in Pocatello and Weber State February 10. Both games start at 7 pm Mountain Time.