A four-game road trip for the Eastern Washington University men's basketball team came to a close at Weber State tonight (Jan. 31) in Ogden, Utah. The Eagles shot 51.5 percent from the field and all five starters scored in double figures, but they could not upset the first-place Wildcats, falling 90-84.
 
With the loss, Eastern drops to 11-11 overall and 5-6 in Big Sky Conference play. Weber State improves to 17-5 and 10-1.
 
Linton Acliese III scored in double figures for the 10^th-straight game, scoring 21 points. It marked the seventh 20-plus point performance of the season for Acliese. For the second-straight game, Angelo Allegri earned a double-double, scoring 14 points and adding 10 rebounds. Rylan Bergersen (17 points), Ethan Price (16 points) and Steele Venters (11 points) also scored in double figures.
 
"We didn't take care of the ball how we wanted to, but I think a lot of it was getting used to a completely different style of defense than Montana State and Montana. There were a few different reads and we didn't have that much preparation time. We know what we're supposed to do, it just took us a little bit of time to adjust," said head coach David Riley. "Offensively, we did some good things and I just think that we kind of put everything together. It's our ninth day on the road and sixth game in 12 days, that might have had something to do with it. But I don't think it was physical fatigue, maybe mental fatigue. When they (Weber State) went on their run in the first half we just looked a little out of it and our pace wasn't there on either side. We have to shore that up."
 
Eastern Washington got off to a shaky start, turning the ball over four times while Weber State took a 4-0 lead. The Eagles quickly recovered, going on a 7-0 run that was capped by a Rylan Bergersen three-pointer for a 7-4 advantage. The game would move in to a 13-13 tie before Angelo Allegri sank a triple for another 7-0 run, and the Eagles found their largest lead of the half at 21-15. Weber State went on an 11-0 run after that, pulling ahead 29-25. Allegri's second triple with 6:06 left made it a one-point, 31-30, game in WSU's favor. However, the Eagles would not make a field goal for the final 4:40 of the game and the Wildcats led 46-35 at the half.
 
Weber State came out after the half and built its largest lead of 58-43. The Eagles refused to back down, quickly going on an 11-2 run that included seven points from Linton Acliese III to cut the lead to six points, 60-54.
 
The Wildcats went back up by 14-points after another 6-0 run. The Eagles got as close as five points with 16 seconds left to play after a layup by Venters, but the Wildcats proved to be too much as they hung on for the 90-84 victory.
 
TOP PERFORMANCES: Linton Acliese III, who has scored in double figures in every Big Sky game he's played in this year, ended the game with 21 points. It marked his eighth 20-plus point performance of his Eastern Washington career. Acliese also ended with nine rebounds and shot 83.3 percent (10-12) from the field before fouling out.
 
Rylan Bergersen finished with 17 points on 7-for-9 from the field and 3-for-4 from three-point range. He would add three assists plus a steal.
 
Ethan Price followed with 16 points. He was 6-10 (60%) from the field and a perfect 2-for-2 from three-point range and 2-for-3 at the foul line. He also had two assists.
 
Angelo Allegri was the other Eagle in double figures, finishing with 14 points and 10 rebounds for his second-straight double-double and the third of Big Sky play. He was 6-of-12 from the field with two triples, plus added a career-high four steals and an assist.
 
Steele Venters rounded out the scoring with 11 points plus five assists and a steal. He made two three-pointers. Ellis Magnuson led the team with six assists.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE: Both teams shot over 50 percent on the night, with Eastern making 34 of its 66 field goal attempts to shoot 51.5 percent, and Weber State shooting 53.7 percent after going 29-for-54.
 
From three-point range, Eastern was 10-for-27 (37%) and the Wildcats were 6-for-18 (33.3%). For the third-straight game, free throws were the biggest discrepancy. Eastern Washington was just 6-for-9, while Weber State was 26-for-29.
 
Eastern was out-rebounded 30-to-20 and committed 14 turnovers that WSU turned in to 19 points. Weber State had 32 fast break points to EWU's five, but EWU had the 44-to-42 margin in the paint.
 
UP NEXT: The fifth and final game of five-straight road contests takes place on Saturday, Feb. 5 at Southern Utah. Tip-off is set for 6 p.m. Pacific time in Cedar City, Utah. Eastern will look to bounce back from an 89-76 loss on Dec. 2 at Reese Court against the Thunderbirds.