CHENEY - A late 8-0 run keyed by the floor play of Justin Crosgile - and a huge blocked shot by Thomas Reuter with nine seconds left - lifted Eastern Washington to a 57-54 victory over Idaho State on Saturday at Reese Court in a Big Sky Conference men's basketball game.

Crosgile offset a 2-of-12 shooting night with seven assists, four steals and seven rebounds to go along with eight points. His 3-point play with 3:31 to play gave Eastern a lead it would not relinquish as the Eagles snapped a four-game losing streak.

The Eagles head into the holidays with a 3-9 record overall and 1-1 Big Sky record, having previously not won since Nov. 30 against Cal State Fullerton. The Bengals are now 1-9 overall and 0-2 in the league and have lost four in a row.

"To be on this side of a close win will go a long way for our guys - it was a much-needed win," Eastern coach Jim Hayford said. "I am really happy our guys can take this win into the break. We don't play again for 12 days. To think of the alternative, that would have been really tough."

Freshman forward Venky Jois had his sixth double-double of the season - all coming in the last nine games - with 13 points and 12 rebounds. He also had three blocked shots, as well as 6-foot-10 sophomore Martin Seiferth, who finished with nine points and four rebounds.

Senior Jeffrey Forbes hit a trio of 3-pointers - giving him 155 in his career - to finish with nine points. Freshman point guard Daniel Hill chipped in eight points in just his third game as an Eagle.

The 54 points the Eagles allowed were the fewest they surrendered by 16 - the previous best for the Eagles came in a 75-70 win over South Carolina-Upstate on Nov. 21. Eastern held the Bengals to 37.9 percent shooting from the field, which was Eastern's best defensive effort of the season. The previous best was a 38.1 percent effort vs. Cal State Fullerton.

"They are very patient on offense," Hayford said. "And they play a zone that makes you need rotations to get the ball inside, so that's going to take time on the clock. They are a very well-coached team. When they got the separation on us, it was us missing some good looks. Fortunately we had some good plays where defense led to offense and that reversed it, and got the lead back in our hands.

"I figured it would be a one or two possession game in the fifties and I was right."

Eastern has won the last 11 meetings against ISU in Cheney, dating back to a 65-63 Bengal win at EWU on March 1, 2003. Overall, the Eagles have won seven consecutive games in the series, dating back to the last win for ISU on Jan. 22, 2010 (79-71 in Pocatello). Eastern has won 25 of the past 34 meetings against the Bengals, including a sweeps the last two years.

Eastern takes an extended break for the holidays, and won't play again until visiting Big Sky Conference favorite Montana on Jan. 3 in Missoula, Mont. Two days later the Eagles play at Montana State. Eastern doesn't play at Reese Court again until Northern Arizona visits on Jan. 10.

"We have guys from all over the world, so they don't get to go home," Hayford said. "The neat part is we will have an international Christmas with these guys. We will go to the Salvation Army on Christmas Eve, and serve some people. That will bring us a lot of joy to have that opportunity."

Melvin Morgan led Idaho State with 14 points and Ayibakuro Preh had a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds.

IDAHO ST. (1-9)

Hatchett 3-11 0-1 6, Hansen 2-11 1-2 6, Preh 4-4 2-4 10, Sanchez 4-9 0-0 9, Morgan 5-12 4-6 14, Mason 1-3 0-0 3, Ezenwa 0-1 0-0 0, Walters 2-5 0-0 4, Kostur 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 22-58 7-13 54.

E. WASHINGTON (3-9)

Kelly 2-8 1-2 7, Jois 5-10 3-3 13, Seiferth 4-5 1-7 9, Crosgile 2-12 3-3 8, Forbes 3-7 0-0 9, Harvey 0-0 0-0 0, Hill 3-5 0-0 8, Reuter 0-0 3-5 3, Winford 0-1 0-0 0, Hickert 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 19-50 11-20 57.

Halftime_E. Washington 29-22. 3-Point Goals_Idaho St. 3-16 (Mason 1-1, Sanchez 1-2, Hansen 1-6, Hatchett 0-2, Morgan 0-5), E. Washington 8-25 (Forbes 3-4, Hill 2-2, Kelly 2-7, Crosgile 1-9, Winford 0-1, Hickert 0-2). Fouled Out_None. Rebounds_Idaho St. 41 (Preh 10), E. Washington 36 (Jois 12). Assists_Idaho St. 13 (Hansen, Sanchez 4), E. Washington 13 (Crosgile 7). Total Fouls_Idaho St. 19, E. Washington 15. A_610.