Eastern Washington downs Southern Utah 81-67 behind Bliznyuk

CEDAR CITY, Utah -- Bogdan Bliznyuk scored a career-high 26 points and made 11 of 12 free throws to lead Eastern Washington to an 81-67 victory over Southern Utah on Saturday night for their fourth-straight win.

Austin McBroom scored 19 points and Venky Jois added 11 points with 11 rebounds and three assists for the Eagles (13-10, 7-4), who shot 52 percent from the field and made 20 of 24 free throws.

Trailing 38-29 at halftime, the Thunderbirds rallied to within 55-53 on Christian Thompson's layup with 10:39 to play in the second half. Felix Van Hofe's 3 sparked a 9-3 run and EWU was back on top 64-56, but Southern Utah closed to within 64-60 on Race Parson's layup.

Van Hofe hit another 3 for a 71-63 Eagles lead with 2:21 left and EWU finished on a 10-4 run in which Bliznyuk scored four free throws.

Race Parsons scored 18 points with a season-high four 3-pointers for Southern Utah (4-17, 2-9), which has lost six straight.