Von Hofe guides Eagles past Redhawks

In a game delayed 18 hours due to a furious windstorm that ravaged the region and darkened all of Cheney last Tuesday, junior forward Felix Von Hofe, lit up Reese Court with a career-high 25 points to lead Eastern Washington to a 76-70 nonconference men's basketball victory Nov. 18 over Seattle University.

Originally scheduled for Nov. 17, the game was played the following afternoon in front of a crowd of over 2,100 who watched Von Hofe hit 7 of 12 from the 3-point line, and 8 of 15 overall. The Australian eclipsed his previous career high of 23 against Sacramento State in last year's Big Sky Conference Tournament.

"I don't know if it's special, but it's what I expect him to do," EWU head coach Jim Hayford said. "If the team gives him 12 good looks - he didn't take a bad shot - he's going to make them."

Senior graduate transfer Austin McBroom contributed 16 points for the Eagles. Sophomore guard Sir Washington was the fourth EWU player in double figures with 11 points, making a pair of 3-pointers. Sophomore Bogdan Bliznyuk scored 10 points in just 28 minutes because of foul trouble.

Leading 38-30 at the half Von Hofe helped give the Eagles a bit of a cushion with a steal and assist to Bliznyuk on a layin. He followed with a layin himself, and a 3-pointer with 11:46 left that pushed the lead to 51-38. His seventh 3-pointer of the game at the 5:27 mark gave Eastern a 68-53 advantage and they survived a late Redhawks rally for the win.

"With all the adversity around this game, it was good to get it in and good to get a win," Hayford added.

The Eagles finished with just seven turnovers, and had 16 assists. Although out-shot from the field 51 – 45 percent and having one less field goal in the game, Eastern made six more 3-pointers than the Redhawks.

Eastern is now 2-1 and played this past Monday in a rematch against the Redhawks in Key Arena in Seattle. This weekend, Nov. 28 and 29 Eastern is at Sacramento State in a round-robin featuring Pacific and South Dakota State.

Eastern remains on the road in California for a Tuesday, Dec. 1 contest at the University of San Francisco before returning home Sunday, Dec. 6 against Great Falls at 2:05 at Reese with a 2:05 p.m. tip.