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Cheney, WA – Bogdan Bliznyuk's 28 points and 12 rebounds led Eastern Washington to a Big Sky Conference win over Portland State, 81-74, at Reese Court.
 
The Eagles were able to thwart a late comeback by the Vikings who trailed by 13 in the second half but pulled within two in the final minute. Down 76-74 with 42 seconds to go, the Vikings just needed a defensive stop for a chance to complete the comeback. But freshman guard Jack Perry hit a three-point shot with 15 seconds left, his only triple of the game, to ice the Eagle win.
 
Portland State lost its second straight to open the Big Sky Conference schedule. The Vikings are 10-5 overall, but now 0-2 in league play. Eastern Washington improved to 7-9, 2-1.
 
Ultimately, a poor shooting night by the Vikings cost them the contest. They led 40-38 at halftime without making a three-pointer. In fact they missed their first 12 three-point attempts before Michael Mayhew made one with 13:35 to play in the game, giving PSU a 52-48 lead.
 
At that point, the tightly contested game had featured 10 ties and 13 lead changes. But the Eagles went on a 16-0 run, with six points from Bliznyuk, and took control of the contest. Eastern Washington's lead grew as high as 13 with 7:11 remaining in the game, 72-59.
 
From there, the Viking defense took over, forcing six Eagle turnovers down the stretch. PSU staged a 14-4 run of its own, getting seven points from Deontae North. A pair of Brandon Hollins free throws narrowed the gap to 76-74 with 42 seconds left. That set up the clutch three by Perry moments later.
 
The Vikings were able to force another 20-turnover game by an opponent, getting 24 points off those turnovers. However, they shot only .368 from the field (25-68), including a 10-36 mark (.278) in the second half. The Vikings made 3-20 three pointers in all (.150). PSU had 19 more field goal attempts and two more free throw attempts than Eastern Washington but couldn't make it pay off.
 
North led PSU with 21 points. Hollins scored 13 points and grabbed a team-high 11 rebounds.
 
Eastern Washington shot 24-49 on the night (.490), made eight three-pointers, and was 25-27 at the free throw line (.926). Bliznyuk was 7-13 from the field and 13-13 at the line for his 28 points.
 
GAME NOTES: Portland State is 5-3 in road games this year… this was the seventh game in a seven-out-of-eight on the road stretch for the Vikings. They are 4-3 so far… Portland State plays Saturday evening at the University of Idaho. Game time is 7 p.m. A live stream is available at www.WatchBigSky.com and www.Pluto.tv. It will also be televised on the Eleven Sports Network, available to DirecTV and CenturyLink Prism subscribers.