The Eastern Washington University men's basketball team took on UC Davis in a Friday afternoon (Nov. 12) matinee in Davis, Calif., at the University Credit Union Center. Unable to overcome a sluggish start, the Eagles fell by a final score of 84-76 and drop to 0-2 on the year while the Aggies improve to 2-0.
 
Not all was lost, however, as four Eagles scored in double-figures and EWU was able to out-rebound the Aggies 51-to-41. Linton Acliese III (22 points, 11 rebounds), Ethan Price (11 points, 12 rebounds) and Rylan Bergersen (13 points, 10 rebounds) all turned in double-doubles.
 
"At the end of the day, we didn't do a good enough job preparing our guys to handle their (UC Davis') pressure. They got into us a little bit and were physical and we weren't able to get into the paint and do the things we needed to do to attack the pressure. This one is on the coaching staff but our players have to learn those lessons too," said head coach David Riley. "We have to understand that we're playing experienced teams, and this preseason, we have to learn lessons quick. This is something that we have to grow from and learn to attack. And we do, but a lot of teams guard us this way. Looking into conference play down the road, obviously with Sacramento State and Montana, they're going to play a similar style of defense and we've been successful with this style of offense against that defense but we have to understand the counters."   
 
The Eagles got off to a slow start. The Aggies made 4-of-5 field goal attempts on a 7-0 run that spanned 57 seconds to take an early 11-2 lead. Linton Acliese III, who earned a double-double for the second-straight game, went on a 5-0 run of his own to cut UCD's lead to 11-7.
 
Turnovers were Eastern Washington's demise, as they committed 13 in the first half that turned into 18 points for the Aggies. The Eagles began to find some life in them with an 8-0 run that started with a Steele Venters three-pointer, an Acliese jumper, and then another three-point play by Venters to trim the deficit to 35-22. The Aggies quickly responded, pulling back ahead 42-22 with another 7-0 run and led 42-26 at the half.
 
Coming out of the half, Eastern Washington outscored UCD 11-5 in the first five minutes thanks to six points from Acliese, cutting the lead back down to 47-37. However, the Eagles were held without a field goal for a three-minute stretch and the Aggies led by double digits until 41 seconds remained in the game. Bergersen would nail two free throws with nine seconds left on the clock, but the Eagles came up short in the 84-76 loss.
 
WIN-LOSS RECORDS: Eastern Washington falls to 0-2 on the year while UC Davis improves to 2-0.
 
TOP PERFORMANCES: Linton Acliese III earned a double-double for the second-straight game. He set a new career-high at Eastern Washington with 22 points to lead all players and added 11 rebounds.
 
Steele Venters also scored in double figures and set a new career-high for the second-straight game with 18 points, shooting 6-of-13 from the field with two three-pointers. He also led the team with three steals and grabbed five rebounds.
 
Ethan Price earned the first double-double of his career with 11 points and a career-high 12 rebounds. He also led the team with two blocks.
 
Rylan Bergersen nearly had a triple-double with 13 points, ten rebounds and seven assists. He also added a block and a steal.
 
KEY STATISTICS: Eastern Washington turned the ball over 19 times which turned in to 23 points for UC Davis. However, the Eagles crashed the boards and out-rebounded the Aggies 51-to-41 and 20 of Eastern's were offensive.
 
From the field, Eastern Washington was 21-of-66 to shoot 31.8 percent overall. From three-point range they were 8-of-25 (32%) and made 26 of their 36 free throw attempts. In the first half, EWU shot just 30.8 percent from the field on 8-of-26 shooting compared to 13-of-40 (35.3%) in the second.
 
The Aggies shot 43.3 percent from the field (29-67), 23.1 percent from three-point range (6-26) and 64.5 percent (20-31) from the charity stripe.
 
UCD scored 38 points in the paint compared to Eastern's 16.
 
UP NEXT: The Eagles open their home slate on Monday, Nov. 15, against Walla Walla at Reese Court. Tip-off is set for 6 p.m. in Cheney, Wash., and will be broadcast on ESPN+ and 700-AM ESPN.
 
Tickets are available at GoEags.com/tickets. Additionally, all fans ages 12 and older must show proof of COVID-19 vaccination or a negative COVID test within the last 72 hours. Masks must also be worn for fans ages five or older, regardless of vaccination status, at all times unless actively eating or drinking.
 
MORE COMMENTS FROM HEAD COACH DAVID RILEY:
 
On Offensive Rebounds: "I'm really curious to see how many layups we missed. It was a rough outing from the two-or-three-foot shots. But hats off to them, they got right under us and contested those shots and made it more difficult than they should be."
 
Playing Zone Defense: "We have length and it looked good. I wish we would've gone to it a little earlier. But at the end of the day, they were scoring so much in transition off of our turnovers. We have to limit that and hopefully look at the things we did well like the zone."
 
On Facing Walla Wall on Monday: "It will be great to have the game against Walla Walla. But going forward, we have to be ready for the pressure. People are going to watch this game and wonder, 'if we pressure Eastern, how are they going to respond?' I'm excited about the challenge and for the players to get better. We have such a good group in the locker room and they're going to respond the right way. It's time to grow."