Venky Jois scores 29 points; Eastern Washington keeps Southern Utah winless in Big Sky 85-74
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Venky Jois scored a career-high 29 points and Tyler Harvey added 26 as Eastern Washington kept Southern Utah winless in the Big Sky, winning 85-74 Saturday.
EWU (13-13, 8-7) got out of the gate quickly, running up a 19-5 score after Drew Brandon's layup just 6 ½ minutes in. But Southern Utah (1-24, 0-16) got a 7-0 run a few minutes later — with five points coming from John Marshall — and the Thunderbirds clawed their way back to trail 38-34 at the break.
Marshall made a pair of free throws with 8:58 left to cut the SUU deficit to three, but the Eagles went on a 9-0 run, hitting 5 of 6 free throws, to push their lead back to 12 and kept Southern Utah at arm's length the rest of the way.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Eric Rippetoe led Southern Utah with 17 while Casey Oliverson added 16.
Jois added 13 rebounds.