MOSCOW, Idaho –  The Idaho men's basketball team fought back from an early 14 point deficit to defeat Eastern Washington 83-80, capturing the Vandals third straight win on Saturday evening at ICCU Arena. 

"We tried like crazy to stay in the moment," Head Coach Zac Claus said. "I thought the guys' resiliency to stick with it down 14 stood out. We started hitting a couple shots, but we couldn't get stops to save our lives there for a while. They dug down and they were able to get big stops when we needed it simply to get it tied into halftime." 

The Vandals held an 80-75 advantage at the 2:01 mark in the second half after a Mikey Dixon jumper found the bottom of the net. A pair of free throws and a three-pointer from the Eagles offense tied the score at 80 all. Tanner Christensen pushed the lead to three after finishing a layup and sinking one of two free throws at the line, while the Idaho defense would make one last stop to hold on to the victory.  

Five Vandals scored in double figures, including a career-high 22 points from Rashad Smith. Smith followed up Thursday night's 4 for 5 shooting performance with an 8-of-10 effort from the floor and 5 for 5 mark from behind the 3-point line. 

Christensen enjoyed one of his best games in a Vandal uniform with a personal best 18 points on 5-of-6 from the field while Trevante Anderson added an all-around performance of 15 points, nine rebounds and seven assists. Mikey Dixon pitched in 13 points and Philip Pepple Jr. scored 10 points in 13 minutes of action. 

Idaho shot 54.4 percent and outscored Eastern Washington 40-38 in the paint. The efficient shooting effort makes it three-straight games Idaho has shot at least 50 percent from the floor as a team. 

The Eagles jumped out to a 34-20 lead with under five minutes remaining in the first period. The Silver and Gold worked their way back with defensive stops and used a 13-2 run to make it a three-point game with just over 2 minutes remaining in the first half. Idaho eventually tied it at 40-40 going into halftime. 

The second half did not disappoint as neither team could gain more than a one-possession advantage until the 2-minute mark when Dixon knocked down a jumper to make it a five-point game.

The back and forth affair featured 16 ties and 12 lead changes throughout. 

The Vandals secure their first three-game win streak since the 2017-18 season. Idaho moves to 8-18 overall and 5-11 in conference play.  

Idaho hits the road for the last time during the regular season when they travel to face Sacramento State and Northern Colorado. The Vandals first square off against the Hornets on Feb. 24 at 7 p.m. before rounding out their week against the Bears on Feb. 25 at 5 p.m.

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