The Eastern Washington University men's basketball team found the win column for the 10th time this season on Thursday night (Jan. 20) at Reese Court in Cheney, Wash. The Eagles played host to Sacramento State, winning 75-62 to improve to 10-7 overall and 4-2 in Big Sky Conference play. It marked the fifth-straight win over the Hornets, who now drop to 5-8 and 1-5. Eastern is now 25-4 all-time against Sacramento State at Reese Court.
 
Eastern's attack was balanced, with five players scoring in double figures. Rylan Bergersen led the way with 15, and Angelo Allegri turned in the first double-double of his career with 14 points and a career-best 14 boards. Steele Venters (14 pts), Linton Acliese III (13 pts) and Ethan Price (10 pts) rounded things out.
 
"We did a better job mixing up the rhythm and throwing some different looks at them (Sacramento State). The main thing was consistency. The last few games against Montana and Idaho we did a good job being prepared to guard and then they basically went to dribble-drive and tried to get downhill and attack us on the bounce, and that's where we struggled for some reason," said head coach David Riley. "We were good on ball defenders, but we kind of took some pride in that and buckled down and stayed consistent."
 
Eastern Washington came out efficient, making seven of its first 10 shot attempts including a perfect three-for-three from three-point range. Allegri made three triples in the first eight minutes to help the Eagles lead 18-11 early, and the lead extended to 21-13 by the 10-minute mark.
 
Both teams entered a scoring lull near the end the of the first half for over three minutes of play until a Price dunk heated things back up, giving the Eagles some distance with a seven-point, 27-20 lead. Eastern's largest lead of the half grew to 10 points, 32-22, after Venters drained his second three-pointer of the night. At the break, the Eagles led 38-29.
 
Eastern stayed efficient throughout the half, heading into the locker room shooting 46.9 percent from the field (15-32) with five three-pointers while locking down defensively, holding the Hornets to 34.5 percent.
 
Eastern held Sacramento State without a field goal for 3:40 in the early going of the second half, but then the Hornets found a 6-0 run to cut the deficit down to five points, 43-38. Price snapped the run with the triple, and after Casey Jones followed down the stretch with the first three-point make of his career, the lead extended back out to 11 points, 51-40. Venters then joined in with another triple, making it an 8-0 run for the Eagles who created some space with a 54-40 lead.
 
Eastern Washington held the Hornets without a field goal for 5:34, and the closest they would get to the Eagles was nine points. Meanwhile, EWU's largest lead grew to 67-51. With under a minute to play, Acliese found the final five points for Eastern Washington to seal the 75-62 victory.
 
 
TOP PERFORMANCES: The Eagles had a balanced attack with five players in double figures. Angelo Allegri turned in the first double-double of his career with 14 points and a career-best 14 rebounds. He was 4-for-9 from three-point range and also had two assists.
 
Rylan Bergersen stuffed the stat sheet once again with 15 points, six assists, two steals and a block.
 
Steele Venters scored 14 points, making 5-of-9 from the field and 3-of-5 from three-point range to go with three assists. Ethan Price followed with 10 points, making 4-of-9 from the field to go with four rebounds and three assists.
 
Linton Acliese scored 13 points and grabbed eight boards, while Casey Jones added five points and seven rebounds in just nine minutes of action.
 
KEY STATISTICS: Eastern Washington out-rebounded the Hornets by 15, totaling 44 boards to Sacramento State's 29. The Eagles committed 11 turnovers that the Hornets turned in to 11 points, but EWU had the edge in the paint, 32-22.
 
Twenty of Eastern's 28 field goals were assisted. Overall, the Eagles shot 43 percent (28-65) from the field and were 11-24 (46%) from three-point range plus 8-of-9 from the charity stripe. Sacramento State made 18-of-24 from the free throw line, and were just 6-of-19 from three-point range (32%). Overall, Eastern held the Hornets to 36 percent (19-53) from the field.
 
In second chance points, Eastern scored 17 and the Hornets scored seven.
 
UP NEXT: Eastern Washington returns to Reese Court to battle with the Northern Colorado Bears on Saturday, Jan. 22 at 2 p.m. Pacific time. Catch the action on ESPN+ on 700-AM ESPN.
 
Tickets are available at GoEags.com/tickets. Proof of COVID-19 vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test within the last 72 hours for fans ages 11 or older is required for entry to home games. Masks must be worn for fans ages five years old or older at all times. Eastern Washington would also like to remind fans that concession stands are closed through January, and this includes hospitality areas such as the Eagle Club and the Sixth Man Club.
 
MORE COMMENTS FROM HEAD COACH DAVID RILEY:
 
On Casey Jones' Play: "He stepped up. It takes a lot of mental toughness to not play the first half and play limited minutes in the last few games. To his credit, he keeps working in practice. He shows up and gets his extra work in. We have veteran players that are playing ahead of him, it's not like he hasn't been playing well, those minutes are scarce and tough to get and tonight he had an opportunity and came in with nine minutes, seven rebounds and hit his first three. He stepped up."
 
On Angelo Allegri's Play: "He has a great feel and is an incredible athlete, so when he is playing with energy and purpose, which he has been focusing on in practice and film, he steps up. He brings activity, and rebounding, and whatever our team needs, he's going to give it to us."