The Eastern Washington University men's basketball lost a close match-up at Montana State tonight (Jan. 27) by a score of 69-65 in Bozeman, Mont. With the loss, Eastern drops to 11-9 overall and 5-4 in Big Sky Conference play, while the Bobcats improve to 15-5 and 7-2.
 
Linton Acliese III earned his fifth double-double of the season with 22 points and 10 rebounds. Angelo Allegri followed with 17 points and seven rebounds.
 
The game had five ties and six lead changes, and both teams shot under 40 percent with 10 three-pointers each. But the main discrepancy came at the free throw line and on the glass.
 
"We'll go back and watch the film and see what we're doing wrong in terms of putting our hands on them too much and fouling too much, and see what we have to do to finish strong so we're drawing those fouls too," said head coach David Riley, whose team was 5-of-7 from the free throw line tonight compared to 23-for-30 for Montana State. "That leads right in to the rebounding disparity too. Both Ethan Price and Linton Acliese III got two quick fouls, we played small and they took advantage of that and hurt us on the glass. Fifty-three to 30 (rebounds) is an unacceptable number, and 14 offensive rebounds for them is way too much. We have to improve there, it hasn't been a huge issue for us this season, so we have to shore that up. It's fixable with the players we have."
 
Four different Eagles scored during an early 10-0 run to help EWU lead 10-1. The Bobcats were 0-for-7 on their first attempts from the field and did not make a field goal until the 15:46 mark of the first half.
 
That's when the script flipped, and Montana State went on a 19-0 run to retake a 20-10 lead while holding EWU scoreless for 10:32. Angelo Allegri finally snapped the run with a triple, but it would wind up being a 25-6 run in all for the Bobcats. The Eagles slowly started to find their groove, as three-straight triples from Allegri, Ellis Magnuson and then Allegri again made it a one-point game at the half, 26-25, while holding Montana State scoreless for the final 2:49.
 
The Eagles relied heavily on the three in the first half, as seven of their nine field goals came from behind the arc. Allegri accounted for three of those for nine first half points, but Eastern was held to 29 percent (9-31) overall from the field and were out-rebounded 30-to-15. The Bobcats, however, shot 31 percent (9-29) and turned the ball over 11 times. Eastern only had five turnovers, and every basket was assisted.
 
Linton Acliese III came out on a mission out of the locker room. He scored Eastern's first 14 points of the second half, with nine coming in a row to give the Eagles a 39-36 lead with 14:18 left to play.
 
After the game moved into a 41-41 tie, a layup by Steele Venters gave Eastern a brief 43-41 lead until the Bobcats pulled back ahead 46-43. Montana State tried to create some distance with a 51-45 advantage when Acliese found another 4-0 spurt of his own to cut the lead to two points. With 4:27 remaining, MSU's lead stretched back out to 57-51 right before Allegri completed a three-point play to put the Eagles back within three points.
 
The Eagles held the Bobcats scoreless for 2:47 in the contest's final minutes, but couldn't make up much ground during the drought, trailing by three with 2:18 remaining. Montana State's leading scorer Jubrile Belo went to the line and made 1-of-2 with 1:10 left to help the Bobcats lead 61-57. MSU would make four more free throws in the final seconds but Allegri looked to give EWU some life with his fourth triple, making it a 65-61 Montana State lead with 22 seconds remaining. With nine seconds left, Magnuson made a layup and Venters went two-for-two from the line, but the Eagles came up short 69-65.
 
TOP PERFORMANCES: Linton Acliese III led the way with 22 points, his sixth 20-plus performance of the season, and grabbed 10 rebounds for his fifth double-double. He was 9-for-13 from the field and 3-for-5 from three-point range with a steal.
 
Angelo Allegri was the other Eagle in double figures, scoring 17 points after draining four triples. He also grabbed seven boards to go with two assists, a steal and a block.
 
Steele Venters was held to six points, but dished four assists and totaled two steals plus a block and two boards. Rylan Bergersen had five assists and two blocks. Ellis Magnuson scored eight points on a 3-for-4 from the field to go with two assists. Casey Jones scored five points, plus had three rebounds, a block and a steal.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE: Both teams were held under 39 percent from the field, with Eastern making 25-of-65 and the Bobcats going 18-for-55. Each side made 10 three pointers, with EWU taking 29 attempts and MSU taking 27. The main discrepancy came from the free throw line, where Eastern was just 5-for-7 and Montana State was 23-for-30.
 
Eastern had a season-low seven turnovers and forced 15. However, they were out-rebounded 53-to-30 and had four offensive boards to MSU's 14. Eastern did out-score Montana State in the paint, 30-to-16, and had 16 assists.  
 
UP NEXT: Eastern Washington continues its road trip at Montana on Saturday, Jan. 29. The Eagles look to bounce back from a loss against the Grizzles at Reese Court on Jan. 6 by a score of 90-78. Tip-off is set for 6 p.m. Pacific time on ESPN+ and 700-AM ESPN.