For the first time in his career, Eastern Washington University men's basketball player Linton Acliese III is the ROAR Organic Big Sky Player of the Week, as announced this afternoon (Jan. 4). It is the first Big Sky weekly honor for the Eagles this season.
 
Acliese, a redshirt senior who hails from Richmond, Calif., and transferred in from San Francisco State, helped Eastern Washington improve to 2-1 in conference action with road wins over Portland State and Northern Arizona.
 
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 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 (15.8) and rebounds (7.2) per game. He's scored in double figures in nine out of the 11 games he has played in, grabbing double-digit rebounds in four. He is second in the Big Sky in field goal percentage, knocking down 52.5 percent (64-122) of his attempts. Additionally, Acliese is sixth in free throw percentage as well, making 33 of his 40 attempts from the line to shoot 82.5 percent. For good measure, he adds 1.2 assists, 0.3 steals and 0.5 blocks per game.
 
Acliese and the rest of the Eagles (8-6, 2-1) are back at home this week for the first time since Dec. 15 for a pair of games. Eastern Washington hosts Montana on Thursday night at Reese Court at 6 p.m., then welcome the Idaho Vandals to town for a doubleheader with the women's teams. Tip-off for the Saturday contest is set for approximately 3:30 p.m. Both games will be broadcasted regionally on SWX, can be watched on ESPN+ or Larry Weir will have the call on 700-AM ESPN.
 
Tickets are available at GoEags.com/tickets, and as a reminder, 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 unless actively eating or drinking.