GAME NOTES

The Eastern Washington University men's basketball team won't have to wait long to put a narrow loss to Northern Colorado behind them. The Eagles travel to Pocatello, Idaho, on Monday, Jan. 24 to face Idaho State in Reed Gym. Tip-off is set for 6 p.m. Pacific time on ESPN+ and 700-AM ESPN.
 
Yesterday afternoon (Jan. 22) the Eagles dropped a nail biter to the visiting Northern Colorado Bears by a score of 87-83 at Reese Court. Eastern was originally supposed to play Idaho State on Jan. 13, but the game was postponed due to COVID-19 issues within the EWU program. The game kicks off five-straight road contests for the Eagles, who will also face Montana State (Jan. 27), Montana (Jan. 29), Weber State (Jan. 31) and Southern Utah (Feb. 5) during the road swing.
 
A LOOK AT THE EAGLES: Eastern Washington is 10-8 overall and 4-3 in Big Sky Conference games. The Eagles split a pair of home games last week, with a 75-62 win over Sacramento State (Jan. 20) and an 87-83 loss to Northern Colorado (Jan. 22).
 
The Eagles average 77.5 points per game, the third-most offensive output in the conference. They lead the conference and rank 40^th in the nation with 16.11 assists per game, totaling 290 to rank 73rd. Eastern Washington pulls down 38.7 rebounds per game to rank second in the conference and 50^th nationally, with 696 total boards. They average 28.3 defensive boards per game which is 21st.
 
EWU is also one of the nation's top three-point shooting teams, firing off 158 this year to rank 106^th in the NCAA. Eastern also has a stifling three-point defense, only allowing opponents to shoot 31.2 percent behind the arc to rank first in the conference. The Eagles are also solid at the free throw line, ranking 26th nationally in attempts (390) and 18^th in makes (293).
 
The Eagles are 3-0 this season when scoring 90 or more points, and 4-0 when shooting between 50-to-60 percent from the field.
 
Eastern boasts four players who average double figures, three of which rank in the top-nine in the Big Sky. Steele Venters (3rd, 17.9 ppg) leads the way, followed by Linton Acliese III (7^th, 15.3 ppg) and Rylan Bergersen (9^th, 14.2 ppg). Angelo Allegri rounds out the offense with 10.8 points per game. Four Eagles also rank in the top 20 in the conference in rebounding in Acliese (7^th, 7.1 rpg), Allegri (11^th, 6.3 rpg), Bergersen (16^th, 5.2 rpg), and Ethan Price (20^th, 5.0).
 
YOU CAN CALL HIM BOOGIE: Linton Acliese III or "Boogie" was honored on Jan. 4 with the ROAR Organic Big Sky Player of the Week nod after leading Eastern to two Big Sky road wins at Portland State and Northern Arizona. It was the first Player of the Week nod for the program this season.
 
Acliese started the week with a 15-point output against the Vikings where he made 7-of-16 from the field to go with seven rebounds and two assists, helping EWU win 63-58.
 
Less than 48 hours later at Northern Arizona, he followed up with his best game as an Eagle thus far by scoring 30 points. He achieved his new career-high by making 13-of-17 from the field, 2-of-3 from three-point range, and a perfect 2-for-2 from the free throw line. Acliese also pulled down 11 rebounds for his fourth double-double of the season. He dished three assists and had a block in the 78-65 victory, which marked Eastern's ninth-straight win over Northern Arizona. The performance was the first 30-point output of Acliese's career with the Eagles, and his fourth with at least 20 points.
 
Over the two games, Acliese shot 60.6 percent (20-33) from the field, plus made three three-pointers and made both free throw attempts. He totaled 18 rebounds for an average of nine per game, plus had five total assists and a block while averaging 22.5 points per game.
 
Currently, Acliese ranks seventh in the Big Sky in both points (15.3) and rebounds (7.1) per game. He's scored in double figures in 13 out of the 15 games he has played in, including six-straight, to go with four double-doubles. He is third in the Big Sky in field goal percentage, knocking down 50 percent (84-168) of his attempts. Additionally, Acliese is third in free throw percentage as well, making 45 of his 53 attempts from the line to shoot 84.9 percent. For good measure, he adds 1.3 assists, 0.2 steals and 0.5 blocks per game.
 
STAT SHEET STUFFER: Rylan Bergersen ranks third on the team and ninth in the Big Sky with 14.2 points per game, but there's more to it. He's led the team in assists in 12 games, ranking fourth in the Big Sky with 4.2 per game. He has 76 assists on the year and has three-or-more assists in every game but two, including at least four in 10. He's fourth in the conference in assist to turnover ratio with 1.8.
 
Bergersen can rebound, too, ranking third on the team and 16^th in the Big Sky with 5.3 per game. He's pulled down four-or-more rebounds in 14 games. On the defensive side, he's seventh in the conference with 1.6 steals per game, with at least one in every game but two. Last but not least, he ranks 30^th in the nation with 83 free throws made and is 41st with 106 attempts.
 
In the two games against Sacramento State and Northern Colorado, Bergersen led the team in points, steals and assists. He averaged 20.5 points, 5.5 rebounds, 5.5 assists and 3.0 steals in the contests. He also shot 51.9 percent (14-27) from the field, 60 percent (3-5) from three-point range, and 76.9 percent (10-13) from the free throw line.
 
VENTERS IS EFFICIENT: One of the sharpest shooters in the Big Sky, redshirt-freshman Steele Venters leads the team and ranks third in the conference with 17.9 points per game. Not only does Venters like to shoot, he does it well, knocking down 49.5 percent from the field to rank fourth in the Big Sky. He leads the league in three-point percentage as well, knocking down 2.9 per game at a clip of 47.6 percent, a mark that ranks 14^th in all of Division I. At the free throw line, he ranks fourth in the conference with a clip of 84.5 percent.
 
Venters has scored in double figures in 14 out of 16 games, including eight games with 20-or-more points. He has scored 20-or-more points in four Big Sky games, with a career-high 29 against Southern Utah. Venters has made a three-pointer in every game this year, including two or more in 14. He has a career-high six against Southern Utah and followed up with five against Omaha, Colorado and Idaho. Nationally, he ranks 14^th in three-point field goal percentage, 82nd in three pointers made with 49, 50th in three-pointers per game, and 76^th in points per game.
 
MOVES LIKE GELO: Angelo Allegri has emerged as a steady three-point shooter for Eastern Washington. He knocks down an average of 2.2 triples per game to rank eighth in the Big Sky, and has at least one three-pointer in 16 out of 18 games. Additionally, he's made at least two in 10 games and three-or-more in six. Against Multnomah on Dec. 15, he made a career-best six. Allegri ranks second on the team with 39 triples total, shooting 36.4 percent from behind the arc and averaging 5.9 attempts per game. He currently averages 10.8 points per game and has scored in double figures 10 times, including a career-best 23 against Multnomah and 21 points against Idaho.
 
He is emerging as one of the team's top-rebounders, too. Against Sacramento State, he earned his first career double-double of 14 points and 14 rebounds, the most boards by an Eagle this season. He has led the team in rebounding in five games, including four-straight. He has grabbed at least seven boards in eight out of the last nine games, including six-straight. Allegri ranks 11^th in the Big Sky with 6.4 per game.
 
ROAD WARRIORS: Of Eastern's 18 games so far this season, 10 have been on the road plus one a neutral site. The road has been kind to the Eagles, though, as they have a record of 6-4 away from Reese Court in true away games. Eastern picked up a gritty overtime win against CSUN on Nov. 19 and upset the Cougars in Pullman on Nov. 27 for signature road victories, and one loss is a 60-57 defeat at Colorado. The Eagles now hit the road for five-straight making stops at Idaho State (Jan. 24), Montana State (Jan. 27), Montana (Jan. 29), Weber State (Jan. 31) and Southern Utah (Feb. 5) for the longest road stretch of the year. EWU won't be back at home until Feb. 10 to host Weber State.
 
LAST TIME OUT: A back-and-forth game that featured 11 ties and six lead changes between the Eastern Washington University men's basketball team and the visiting Northern Colorado Bears went the way of UNC on Saturday afternoon (Jan. 22) at Reese Court in Cheney, Wash., as the Bears hung on to an 87-83 victory.
 
At the half, both teams were knotted up at 40-40. Eastern Washington trailed by as many as nine in the second half, but Steele Venters made a pair of free throws with 2:32 remaining to put the Eagles within three points, 79-76. Enter Rylan Bergersen, who drained a three-pointer with 1:49 to play to tie the game 79-79. Bergersen stepped up again, making a layup with 42 seconds left to give the Eagles an 81-80 lead. That would wind up being EWU's final lead of the night, as Ellis Magnuson hit a pair of free throws to make it a one-point game, 84-83, with 13 seconds on the clock. From there, the Eagles came up short as the Bears found the final three points of the contest to win 87-83.
 
Eastern could not shut down the Bears' hot-offense, as Northern Colorado shot 68.18 percent in the second half.
 
Venters (25 pts) and Bergersen (26 pts) combined for 51 of Eastern's 83 points and six of the team's nine three-pointers in tonight's game. Linton Acliese III and Angelo Allegri each added 10 points to round out the scoring. It marked Venters' eighth game this season with 20-or-more points, and the fourth in Big Sky play.
 
A LOOK AT THE BENGALS: Idaho State resides in the basement of the Big Sky Conference standings with a 3-14 overall record and a 1-7 mark in conference action. The Bengals beat Idaho by a score of 81-74 on Jan. 15, but have since lost three-straight with two losses to Weber State and one to Southern Utah.
 
Idaho State averages 61.7 points per game while shooting at a 39.8 percent clip. It allows opponents to shoot 47.1 percent from the field. The Bengals average 32.0 rebounds per game. Two Bengals average 10.9 points per game Tarik Cool and Robert Ford III. Cool also ranks 14^th in the conference with 2.6 assists per game.
 
SERIES HISTORY: Eastern Washington leads the all-time series with the Bengals, 50-31, including 47-30 in the Division I era. On the road in Pocatello, Eastern is 16-20 all-time.
 
Last season, the two squads met twice and split the meetings at Reese Court. Idaho State upset the Eagles on March 3 in a 68-63 decision, snapping Eastern's nine-game winning streak. Eastern Washington ended the regular season on a high note, however, bouncing back with a 75-62 win on March 5.
 
UP NEXT: Eastern Washington plays Montana State for the first time this season on Thursday, Jan. 27 in Bozeman, Mont. Tip-off is set for 6 p.m. Pacific time. On Jan. 29, Eastern looks to avenge a 90-78 loss to Montana back on Jan. 6. The Eagles rematch the Grizzlies at 6 p.m. PT in Missoula, Mont. Both contests can be watched on ESPN+ and listened to on 700-AM ESPN.