The 2022-23 season begins for Eastern Washington men's basketball on Monday night (Nov. 7). Eastern will play Santa Clara on the road at 7 p.m. Pacific Time.

Eagle fans who are in Santa Clara or making the trip for the game can get tickets for only $12 using the promo code EWU22. Purchase tickets for the game by clicking the link HERE. The game can be streamed live on WCCSports.com. Fans can also listen to the game live on 700-AM ESPN with Larry Weir on the call. 

A LOOK AT THE EAGLES
The Eagles are led by second-year head coach, David Riley. The 11-year veteran of the program has previously served as the director of operations, assistant coach, and associate head coach since the 2011-12 season. He was officially introduced as head coach on March 25, 2021. Riley and his staff hit the recruiting trail hard in the 2022 offseason, bringing in nine newcomers with a plethora of different basketball experience.
 
Six returners are back from last season, where the Eagles finished 18-16 overall and tied for fifth in the Big Sky Conference with a mark of 11-9. The Eagles won their first-round matchup against Northern Arizona (78-75) in the Big Sky Tournament before narrowly falling to Northern Colorado in the quarterfinals by a score of 67-68. Eastern then accepted an invite to The Basketball Classic, marking the eighth national postseason tournament appearance in school history (at the Division I level). They fell to the hosting Fresno State Bulldogs in the first round by a score of 74-83.
 
What's Back
Senior Angelo Allegri, juniors Ellis Magnuson and Imhotep George, redshirt sophomore Steele Venters and sophomores Casey Jones and Ethan Price are all back for another year with the Eagles.
 
Venters played in and started 33 games for the Eagles in 2021-22, averaging 16.7 points per game to lead the team. He was named second team All-Big Sky. The redshirt-sophomore was selected to the preseason All-Big Sky team two weeks ago. 

Price was honored as the conference's Freshman of the Year after starting in all 34 games and holding averages of 9.9 points and 4.9 rebounds per game.

Allegri made an immediate impact in his first season at EWU after transferring from UNC Greensboro, averaging 12.1 points per game and leading the team in total rebounds (226, 6.6 average).

George (2.4 rpg, 2.5 rpg), Jones (2.4 ppg, 2.1 rpg) and Magnuson (2.1 ppg, 2.5 apg) were key contributors off the bench, combining for over 1,000 minutes of play in the 2021-22 season.
 
New Eags on the Block
Of the nine newcomers, three are true freshmen. The Eagles welcome Sebastian Andersson (Stockholm, Sweden / Korrespondensgymnasiet), Amarion Savage (Aurora, Ill. / East Aurora HS / TLAP Sports Academy) and LeJuan Watts (Fresno, Calif. / Bullard HS). Six transfers with plenty of collegiate experience also joined the Eagles and look to make an immediate impact.
 
Deon Stroud hails from Fresno, Calif., where he graduated from San Joaquin Memorial High School in 2019. He previously played at both Fresno State and UTEP. In his two seasons with Fresno State, he averaged 8.4 points per game with 139 rebounds, 40 assists and 38 steals. Stroud made 17 starts and played in 51 games for the Bulldogs. At UTEP, he averaged 4.3 points per game in 24 appearances as a freshman.
 
Tyreese Davis, a native of Kansas City, Mo. and 2018 graduate of Grandview High School, joins the Eagles after three seasons at Jacksonville University. There, he played in 82 games and made 80 starts, racking up 802 career points in the process. As a redshirt-sophomore in 2021-22, Davis led the Dolphins to a 21-10 overall record and an 11-5 mark in ASUN play. 
 
Ty Harper comes from Norcross Ga. He graduated from Santa Clarita Christian High School (Calif.) in 2020 and played at Louisiana Lafayette, where he averaged 5.6 points, 1.7 rebounds and 1.2 assists per game in his first season of college basketball. In 2021-22, he averaged 2.0 points across 16 games.
 
Other Eagle transfers include Cedric Coward (Fresno, Calif. / Willamette University), Dane Erikstrup (Chandler, Ariz. / Cal Poly Pomona), and Jordan Veening (Sumas, Wash. / Western Colorado). Veening returns to Eastern Washington after transferring to Western Colorado for one season. He previously played in eight games for the Eagles in 2019-20 and 2020-21.
 
The 2022-23 Campaign
With trips to Hawai'i, Florida, and a game at the Spokane Arena, the 2022-23 season is already set up to be one to remember for Eastern Washington University head men's basketball coach David Riley and his squad. The schedule is highlighted by an early season trip to Honolulu for the Rainbow Classic where the Eagles will play in three games. In between that tournament, and one at Florida International over Thanksgiving, is a game against Washington State at the Spokane Arena. In all, the Eagles play in four non-conference games in the friendly confines of Reese Court, plus nine Big Sky Conference games. Eastern plays each Big Sky school twice, once at home and once on the road.
 
The Eagles were tabbed to finish fifth in the conference in both the coaches and the media poll. The defending Big Sky champion, Montana State, was picked first in both. The 2022-23 Big Sky Championships are held in Boise, Idaho, from March 4-8.
 
Scouting the Broncos: Santa Clara had its best season in the Western Coastal Conference since 2006-07, as the team finished with a 10-5 record in conference and 21-12 overall. The Broncos earned a spot in the NIT for the first time since 1996. The team finished third in the conference.
 
The key returner for the Broncos is fifth year forward, Keshawn Justice. Last season, Justice was an All-WCC second team selection and he was named to the preseason all-conference team. Justice averaged 13.0 points and 6.47 rebounds per game, while shooting 42.4 percent from the floor.
 
Santa Clara brings in five newcomers for its 2022 class, including Illinois transfer guard, Brandin Podziemski.
 
Series History: Eastern Washington has a 2-5 record against Santa Clara in its past matchups. The two teams met in November of 2012, with the Broncos defeating the Eagles, 89-74.