Eastern Washington holds 3rd, beats Northern Colorado, 67-65 (Jan 27, 2018)

CHENEY, Wash. (AP) Sir Washington scored the final five points to allow Eastern Washington to hold off Northern Colorado, 67-65, in a key Big Sky Conference battle Saturday afternoon.

The Eagles now are no lower than third place in conference after entering the day tied with Idaho and the Bears for third behind unbeaten Montana and idle Weber State.

The Bears, coming off an upset win at Montana State Thursday, tied the game at 65-65 on Andre Spight's 3-pointer with 2:00 left, but Northern Colorado did not score again. Washington hit two free throws with :08 left to secure the win.

Bogdan Bliznyuk, who set the EWU scoring record Thursday against North Dakota, burst into the all-time Big Sky Top 10 by scoring 26 points on 11-of-20 shooting. Mason Peatling scored 17 points and grabbed 15 rebounds. Washington added nine for the Eagles (11-11, 6-3).

Jalen Sanders and Spight each scored 14 points to lead Northern Colorado (14-8, 5-4).