GAME NOTES

Coming off of the heels of the first win of the season, the Eastern Washington University men's basketball team is facing yet another road test this week. The Eagles head to Northridge, Calif., for the Good Sam Empire Classic on Nov. 19-20 which is hosted by CSUN.
 
Eastern opens play against the hosts on Friday at 2 p.m. Pacific time at the Matadome. On Saturday, Nov. 20, the Eagles will play either Texas State or Dixie State in the third-place game at 12 p.m. or the championship game at 8 p.m.
 
Live stats for both games will be available HERE. Friday's game will be available on ESPN+ and streaming details for Saturday's contest are not available yet. Larry Weir will have the call on 700-AM ESPN against CSUN, and Sean Widmer will fill-in for Saturday's game. Stay tuned to GoEags.com for more information.
 
LAST TIME OUT: The first win of the season, and the first under head coach David Riley, came in an 111-71 trouncing of the visiting Walla Walla University Wolves on Monday night (Nov. 15) at Reese Court. Eastern's point total was the 16^th-most points scored in program history.
 
Steele Venters led all players with 27 points, his first career game with over 20 points. Ethan Price turned in a double-double of 19 points and 11 rebounds, and Linton Acliese III (20) and Mason Landdeck (10) also scored in double figures. The Eagles shot the lights out, making 22 of their 37 attempts from the field to shoot 59 percent in the first half and added 38 points in the paint. Defensively, they held the Wolves to 10-of-37 (27%) and out-rebounded WWU 28-to-19.
 
Eastern Washington led by as many as 42 points in the second half. The Wolves upped their shooting percentage in the second period, making 15-of-33 from the field (45.5%) and draining six three-pointers. The Eagles were 18-of-34 (52.9%) from the field during the second half.
 
A LOOK AT THE EAGLES: Eastern Washington is 1-2 overall after opening up the season on the road with two losses at Nevada and UC Davis before the win over Walla Walla.
 
The Eagles boast the top-two scorers currently in the Big Sky Conference, led by Linton Acliese III with 20.33 points per game and Steele Venters with 19.00 points per game. Both have scored in double figures in all three contests so far, with Acliese scoring 20 points in two contests and 19 in the other. Acliese has also turned in double-doubles in two games, while Venters has had the highest single-game out-put with 27 points against Walla Walla. Venters also ranks fifth in field goal percentage (55.6) while Acliese is fifth in rebounding (9.67/game).
 
Freshman Ethan Price has also been making his mark early, ranking 13^th in the conference in points per game (14.00), tied for seventh in rebounds (8.33/game), and tied for fifth in assists (3.33/game). He has earned a double-double in the last two games.
 
Rylan Bergersen averages 10.0 points, 4.7 rebounds and 3.33 assists per game and shootings 45.5 percent from the field.
 
As a team, the Eagles are second in the Big Sky with 87.67 points per game and third overall in rebounds per game with 46.0. They are also tied for first in assists per game with 19.33 and are fourth in steals per game with 6.33.
 
A LOOK AT THE MATADORS: CSUN is 0-2 overall after an 89-49 loss at USC and a 68-52 loss at Notre Dame to open the season. The Matadors compete in the Big West Conference where they finished 5-9 in league play and 9-13 overall last season. They return two starters and welcome eight newcomers. Trent Johnson is in his first season as the interim head coach.
 
So far this season, the Matadors are averaging 50.5 points per game and shooting 37.7 percent overall, grabbing 25.5 rebounds per game. Atin Wright leads the way with 11.0 points per game and has made six of the team's 10 three-pointers this year. Darius Brown II averages 9.5 points and leads the way with 4.5 rebounds per contest.
 
SERIES HISTORY: This will be the 21st all-time meeting between the Eagles and the Matadors, with Eastern Washington holding an 11-9 advantage. CSUN was a member of the Big Sky Conference from 1996-2001. The two teams last met on Dec. 17, 2017 where the Eagles hosted CSUN at Reese Court and won 86-58. Eastern Washington made 11 three-pointers and shot 51.6 percent overall from the field in the victory.
 
The Eagles have not won in Northridge since 2001 in an 88-75 victory, dropping three-straight with the last game at the Matadome coming on Nov. 12, 2012. Against Big West schools, Eastern Washington is 27-30 all-time.
 
A LOOK AT DIXIE STATE AND TEXAS STATE: Dixie State competes in the Western Athletic Conference and are 1-1 after a 97-63 loss at No. 1 Gonzaga and an 83-76 win over Southern Utah. The Trailblazers return four starters from a team that finished 8-13 overall and 4-10 in the WAC last season. They also welcome six newcomers and are coached by Jon Judkins in his 17^th season.
 
Two Trailblazers in Hunter Schofield (17.0) and Cameron Gooden (12.5) average double figures, with Gooden averaging 7.0 assists per game.
 
Texas State is members of the Sun Belt Conference and are 1-2 overall after a win against Incarnate Word and losses to LSU and Vanderbilt.
 
Caleb Asberry is averaging a team-high 14.3 points per game on 50.0 percent shooting from the field with eight three-pointers. Mason Harrell and Isiah Small are putting up 9.7 and 9.0 points per game, respectively. Small leads the team with 7.0 rebounds per game, eight assists and two blocks.
 
Eastern Washington has never faced Dixie State or Texas State. The Eagles are 13-13 all-time against WAC opponents and 3-4 against teams from the Sun Belt.