PRICE – Utah State Eastern Men's Basketball defeated the Colorado Northwestern Community College Spartans 67-52 on Thursday in the Region XVIII Tournament opening round.

Freshman guard Blaze Nield led the Eagles with a near triple-double of 26 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists.

As a team the Eagles shot 40.4 percent from the field and 30 percent from three.

USU Eastern also out rebounded the Spartans 47 to 32 on Thursday with three players grabbing at least six rebounds.

On defense the Eagles had seven blocks and five steals with Vojtech Ruzek and Stevan Jeremic each providing three blocks.

"It was a good win because this team beat us twice this season already and it has given us confidence going into tomorrow night's big game against the best team in our conference," said USU Eastern Head Coach Adjalma Becheli.

USU Eastern will advance to the tournament semifinals on Friday night against top seed Snow College.

Friday's game is scheduled to tip off at 7:30 p.m. inside the BDAC with the winner advancing to Saturday night's championship game.

Fans can watch the game live on the Scenic West Digital Network at scenicwestnetwork.com/usu.

Tickets to the game can also be purchased in advanced at usueasternathletics.com/tickets.