CHENEY, Wash. -- Eastern Washington got off to a blazing start from the field on its home court and used that to post a 95-71 victory over North Dakota in Big Sky men's basketball action Thursday.

Senior Dale Jones led a tri of Fighting Hawks (7-13; 2-6 BSC) with 14 points and went 3-for-5 from beyond the arc, but the visitors could not get out of their early hole.

The Eagles (10-11, 5-3 BSC) ripped off a 17-2 run to start the game and held a 30-8 advantage just over eight minutes into contest after starting 12-for-15 from the field. The home team only had one empty possession during that torrid start, but would eventually cool off.

"We didn't come ready to play, which is disappointing because I thought we had a good week of practice," UND head coach Brian Jones. "They came out and shot lights out early, which you have to expect in their building.

"We settled down and played better in stretches. We had a good start to the second half, but when we got (the deficit) down to eight points, we made them miss again and could not get the rebound, which they turned that into a 3-pointer. That was a key play in the game."

After starting 3-for-10 from the field, UND closed the half going 9-for-16 to trim that 22-point deficit down to 14 by the break. The visitors went 4-for-6 from beyond the arc in the opening 20 minutes, but the Eagles managed to make nine total from distance to not let the Fighting Hawks get any closer.

EWU's Bogdan Bliznyuk had 14 first-half points and his 3-pointer in the opening two minutes of play made him EWU's all-time leading scorer after needing just two points to reach that milestone entering the contest.

The Fighting Hawks opened the second half with back-to-back treys to close within single digits for the first time since early in the contest, but Cody Benzel would connect on a trio of 3-pointers over the next two minutes to end any thoughts of a UND comeback.

Bliznyuk finished with 28 points to lead all scorers, while also adding eight rebounds and a game-high seven assists. Mason Peatling collected a double-double for the home team, finishing with 11 points and 11 rebounds. Benzel finished with 15 points, which all came on 3-pointers.

Junior Geno Crandall added 12 points and classmate Conner Avants chipped in with 11 to round out the trio of UND's double-figure scorers.

The Eagles finished 38-for-72 from the field and knocked down 15 3-pointers, while UND shot 45.1 percent from the field and went 8-for-17 from distance.

UND returns to action on Saturday to wrap up a four-game homestand at Idaho. Tip-off is scheduled for 9 p.m. CT.

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