Bogdan Bliznyuk scored 29 points and Jacob Wiley added 26, but Eastern Washington saw its season come to an end March 15 with a 91-81 loss to Wyoming at Laramie in the opening round of the College Basketball Invitational.
Felix Von Hofe had 17 points, 15 on 3-point shots in his final game as an Eagle.
But it was the Cowboys who were really dialed in from long-range. Wyoming sank 11 of 18 3-pointers for 61.1 percent. They also went 58.3 percent from the field, going 35-of-60. Eastern shot a combined 49.2 percent.
“We played the second half how we wanted to play the whole game,” head coach Jim Hayford said. “We could have done better offensively. But Wyoming is a really good team, you have to guard the five guys on the floor all the time.
Eastern dug itself into a hole in the first half, trailing 44-32 at the break before finding their range in the second 20 minutes.
The Eagles got within a point on a Wiley jam with 13:45 to play, but Wyoming went on a 9-0 run to gain the necessary distance and hold on for the win.
Eastern finished the season 22-12 while Wyoming improved to 19-14 and defeated Missouri-Kansas City 72-61 to reach the semifinals versus Utah Valley State.
Paul Delaney can be reached at pdelaney@cheneyfreepress.com.
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