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South Dakota hangs on against the Eags

The Eastern Washington University men's basketball team couldn't quite get over the hump, and ended up falling 75-73 to South Dakota from the Summit League on Sunday (Dec. 10) in Vermillion, S.D.

The Eastern Washington University men's basketball team couldn't quite get over the hump, and ended up falling 75-73 to South Dakota from the Summit League on Sunday (Dec. 10) in Vermillion, S.D.

After rallying from a 13-point deficit in the first half, the Eagles forced a pair of ties in the second half and pulled within two with 2:50 to play. But Matt Mooney scored all nine of USD's points after that, including a dagger with 1:32 to play on a 3-point basket.

On a night in which the Eagles sank a season-high 46 percent of their shots from the field, true freshman Jack Perry hit a pair of 3-pointers for Eastern in the last two minutes. But an Eagle miss with 16 seconds left stalled out the upset attempt.

Three Eagles scored in double figures, led by a career-high 19-point effort by sophomore Mason Peatling. Eastern lost for the fourth-straight game, and hasn't had a lead in any of them.

The loss dropped EWU to 3-7 on the season, while USD improved to 9-3. The Coyotes entered the game 82nd in the ratings percentage index (RPI), while Eastern was 190th. The Eagles next play Tuesday (Dec. 12) at Wyoming, which is 7-3 and No. 57 in the RPI.

Records . . .

* The Eagles are now 3-7 on the season, with their last victory coming on Nov. 24 by an 83-62 score against Eastern Kentucky in the MGM Resorts Main Event in Las Vegas.

* Now 9-3 on the season, South Dakota had beaten Drake 93-65 in its last outing, and is now 5-0 at home and 4-3 away from home thus far. In those previous four home victories, USD had won by an average of 31 points per game. The Coyotes lost to Duke 96-80 on Dec. 2, and previously fell to Northern Colorado from the Big Sky Conference by a 63-62 score on Nov. 25 on a neutral court.

What it Means . . .

* The end is near for the Eagles during the stretch of playing10-straight games away from home. Eastern hasn't played at home since beating Walla Walla 82-61 on Nov. 10, but will get that chance after the Wyoming game. The Eagles are in the midst of playing four road games in a 10-day stretch, but earlier had a season-opening stretch that included seven games in a 15-day span. Thus far, the highlight of season has been EWU's 67-61 victory over Stanford on Nov. 14 in EWU's first win over a Pac-12 opponent since 2002.

What's Next . . .

* Eastern closes its 10-game road stretch when the Eagles play Dec. 12 at Wyoming, a team which is 7-3 thus far and ended EWU's season a year ago in the College Basketball Invitational. The Cowboys beat Pacific 86-72 on Saturday (Dec. 9) in their last outing. Following the end of the road gauntlet at Wyoming, EWU will host Cal State Northridge on Dec. 17 at 1 p.m. and the University of Providence from Great Falls, Mont., on Dec. 20 at 6 p.m.

Keys to Game . . .

* Eastern kept it close thanks to its best shooting performance of the season, making 45.6 percent (26-of-57) after a 56 percent second half (15-of-27). Eastern sank 9-of-23 3-pointers for its second-best shooting percentage of the season at 39.1 percent. The Eagles made all 12 of their free throws.

Turning Point . . .

* The Eagles fell behind by 13, but Mason Peatling scored seven Eastern points in a 9-0 run to pull Eastern within four. Eastern held South Dakota scoreless for nearly three minutes during the run, including a 4:04 stretch without a field goal. The Eagles eventually tied the game at 34 and 36 early in the second half, but could never take a lead. The Coyotes regained a trio of nine-point leads, but the Eagles stayed within striking distance for the remainder of the game.

Top Performers . . .

* Senior Bogdan Bliznyuk made 7-of-15 field goals with a pair of 3-pointers to finish with 18 points, nine rebounds, four assists and a pair of steals.
* Sophomore Mason Peatling had his second-straight double figure scoring performance, making 6-of-9 shots from the field to finish with 19 points. He hit his only 3-point attempt and sank all six of his free throws, and also had four rebounds and a pair of blocked shots. He eclipsed his previous career high of 13 at Montana last season.
* True freshman Jack Perry also had his best game as an Eagle, finishing with 13 points on 4-of-8 shooting overall and 3-of-5 from the 3-point stripe. His previous best was nine points at Seattle.
* Junior Jesse Hunt came off the bench to scored eight points, grab five rebounds and dish out a pair of assists in 22 minutes of action.

Key Stats . . .

* Although the Eagles had a season-best field goal percentage, defensively they allowed the highest percentage against the Eagles this season. South Dakota made only 2-of-12 of its 3-point shots, but were efficient inside of the arc by making 26-of-39 for 66.7 percent. The result was 54.9 percent for the game for the Coyotes, who out-scored Eastern inside the paint 46-28. The 46 points in the paint were the most against EWU this season.

Other Team Highlights . . .

* Senior Bogdan Bliznyuk came a rebound away from his second-straight double-double, finishing with 18 points, nine rebounds, four assists and a pair of steals. His assist performance moved him into 10th in school history with 304 in his career, and he moved into 11th with 115 3-pointers made. He now has 1,590 career points, just 213 behind the school record of 1,803 set by his former teammate Venky Jois from 2013-16. Bliznyuk's former teammate at Todd Beamer High School in Federal Way, Wash., Trey Burch-Manning, joined Matt Mooney with a team-high 19 points for USD.

Notables . . .

* Eastern is 1-3 versus South Dakota in four meetings which have taken place between 2010 and 2017. The Eagles lost 78-72 on Dec. 20, 2010, in the first meeting in Vermillion, S.D.; won 70-61 at home the following season on Nov. 15, 2011; and lost 77-71 on Nov. 29, 2015, in a neutral site game in Sacramento, Calif.

* The Eagles are in the midst of a stretch of 36-straight days without a home game – one of just four NCAA Division I teams with such a road stretch this year. Eastern's 15-day road trip from Nov. 11 to Nov. 25 is the books, but there are more travel miles ahead. Eastern plays four more road games before a pair of pre-Christmas home games. The first leg of EWU's road stretch included 4,432 airline miles, while the other trips in the road stretch will include 6,408 miles. That's a total of 10,840 air miles, not including ground travel.

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