The Eastern Washington University men's basketball team wrapped up non-conference play at No. 25 Texas Tech this morning (Dec. 22) at United Supermarkets Arena in Lubbock, Texas, where they lost 78-46. The Eagles drop to 6-6 (0-1 Big Sky) on the season while the Red Raiders improve to 9-2.

"Not the best day to have an off-shooting day. Early on, our players did a great job handling pressure and getting to the paint. But they were able to score early and put us in the half court offensively and it was tough for us to get into the paint and to get easy threes, and that broke our rhythm and turned it in to a harder shooting night for us," said head coach David Riley. "Texas Tech is a good defensive team. They're communicating, they're long, they're strong and physical, and we have to get better and handling pressure. Against UC Davis, we couldn't even pass versus the pressure, and we learned from that. Today we were able to make passes, we didn't turn it over as much, but it caused us to not get into the paint and get post touches like we needed to, we looked stagnant because of it. We have room to grow in that area, but it's a process."
 
The Red Raiders used a 9-0 run for an early 9-3 lead. Angelo Allegri scored five-straight points to put the Eagles back within striking distance, 9-8, and then hit a triple to give EWU a brief 13-12 lead. After Texas Tech went back up by four, a Linton Acliese three-pointer put the game back within a point, 17-16. However, a 10-0 spurt by the Red Raiders gave Texas Tech a 27-16 advantage.
 
The Eagles would get as close as nine points during the remainder of the first half, but Texas Tech used another 12-0 run to take a 50-27 lead into the locker room.
 
Eastern Washington didn't allow the Red Raiders to make a field goal until the 14:57 mark of the second half, but could not make up any ground as they were held scoreless for over four minutes.
 
After a 50-point first half that saw the Red Raiders shoot 71 percent from the field and 55 percent from three-point range, the Eagles held Texas Tech to just 28 second half points. Eastern's defense also held the Red Raiders to 48 percent from the field and 22 percent from three-point range in the second half, but were limited to just 19 points themselves, shooting 20 percent from the field and 16 percent from three-point range.
 
TOP PERFORMANCES: Rylan Bergersen was the lone Eagle in double figures, adding 10 points to go with four rebounds, three assists and a steal which also led Eastern Washington.
 
Linton Acliese scored nine points, followed by Angelo Allegri who added eight points and also had three rebounds and two assists. Ethan Price added seven points, four rebounds, two assists and a steal.
 
KEY STATISTICS: Overall, Eastern was 14-for-53 from the field (26%), 8-for-35 (23%) from three-point range, and 10-for-14 (71%) from the free throw line. The Red Raiders shot 59 percent overall (29-49), 40 percent from three-point range (8-20) and 71 percent (12-17) from the free throw line.
 
Both teams committed 14 turnovers, with Eastern scoring 11 points off turnovers and Texas Tech scored 19. Eastern was out-rebounded 36-24, but had 10 offensive boards to Texas Tech's eight. In the paint, Eastern was out-scored 40-to-4.
 
UP NEXT: After the holidays, it's back to Big Sky play for the Eagles. Eastern Washington takes on Portland State at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 30 in Portland, Ore., before traveling to Northern Arizona for a 1 p.m. tip on Saturday, Jan. 1. EWU is back in action the following week at home against Montana (Jan. 6) and Idaho (Jan. 8).