Bears Drop Road Decision at Eastern Washington, 82-72

Thursday, February 26

Cheney, Wash.

7 p.m. MST | 6 p.m. PST

University of Northern Colorado

18-11,8-8Big Sky

Eastern Washington

12-17,10-6Big Sky

Northern Colo.

Eastern Wash.

Photo by: EWU Athletics

2/26/2026 9:29:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

By: Brooke Richards, Director of Strategic Communications

CHENEY, Wash. – Northern Colorado saw a strong first half give way to a late Eastern Washington surge as the Bears fell 82-72 Thursday night at Reese Court.

UNC traded punches throughout the opening 20 minutes, shooting 62.1 percent from the floor to keep pace and heading into the locker room tied 40-40 after three lead changes and six ties. Quinn Denker set the tone early, scoring 10 in the first half and finishing with a team-high 19 points to go with eight assists, while Brock Wisne added 13 points and Ibu Yamazaki chipped in 13 on a pair of threes. Vincent Delano provided a lift off the bench with eight points on 4-for-6 shooting, and the Bears generated consistent paint production, totaling 40 points inside.

The second half stayed tight early, with UNC briefly nudging ahead 49-46 on a Nyeri three at the 16:00 mark, but Eastern Washington took control with a decisive stretch in the middle of the period. The Eagles leaned into their interior attack and tempo, outscoring the Bears 42-32 after halftime while winning the paint 48-40 and posting a 10-2 edge in fast-break points. Northern Colorado's perimeter shooting cooled (5-for-20 from three), and EWU's ability to live at the line (20-for-24) helped separate in the final minutes.

Denker finished with 19 points and eight assists, Wisne and Yamazaki each scored 13, and Delano added eight. Ring Nyeri posted six rebounds and hit a pair of threes, while Ariik Mawien provided five points and five boards in limited minutes. Eastern Washington was led by Kiree Huie's 23 points and 10 rebounds and Alton Hamilton IV's 21 points, as the Eagles closed the game on a 14-4 run over the final three minutes to secure the win.

With the result, Northern Colorado moved to 18-11 overall and 8-8 in Big Sky play.

UP NEXT: Northern Colorado heads to Moscow to face Idaho on Saturday, February 28. Tipoff is set for 2 p.m. MST (1 p.m. PST).

RECORD WATCH: Brock Wisne moved into 10th place on UNC's all-time scoring list with 1,380 career points and now sits fifth in program history in field goals made with 574.

Zach Bloch continues to make steady progress across multiple career categories, ranking seventh all-time at UNC in three-pointers made (196) and sixth in three-point attempts (501), while sitting in a tie for second in games played with 130, just three shy of the program record. Bloch also has 98 career steals, 15 away from cracking the all-time top 10, and is closing in on single-season marks as well, sitting in sixth in made three's with 86 and is four steals shy of the season top 10.

Quinn Denker remains one of the most productive playmakers in program history, currently ranking third on UNC's single-season assists list with 196 and continuing to move up the program's season-long distribution charts.

As a team, the 2025-26 squad is only 15 assists away from breaking the programs single season record of 506, set by the 2024-25 team.

FOLLOW THE BEARS: Fans can follow and stay up to date on all the Bear action at uncbears.com and on social media. Follow the Bears on X (formerly Twitter) (@UNC_BearsMBB), Instagram (@UNC_BearsMBB), and Facebook (/UNCBearsMBB).