Eastern Washington men's basketball began its 2022-23 season on Monday night (Nov. 7) against Santa Clara. On the road, Eastern fought tough against the Broncos, but lost 84-72.

"We had some really great spurts tonight where our guys played together on both sides of the ball," head coach David Riley said. "Unfortunately, we didn't play that way for all 40 minutes and that came back to hurt us. Today was the first step in a long season and we need to make sure we learn and grow from it."

Angelo Allegri led the Eagles with 19 points on 7-of-13(53.8%) shooting, going 4-of-8(50%) from three-point range. Tyreese Davis scored 12 points on 3-of-9(33.3%) shooting.

Turnovers were a major factor in the game, as Eastern dealt with 16 that led to 24 points for the Broncos. Santa Clara had 10 turnovers, with the Eagles scoring 10 points on those opportunities.

Offense was tough to come by to begin the game, as Santa Clara scored at the 18:55 mark and those were the only points until 16:54 when Steele Venters gave Eastern its first basket of the game. The first half stayed competitive early, with neither team building separation. The Eagles jumped ahead 8-7 on a three-pointer from Venters at 13:09. Ethan Price extended the lead to 12-7 with a layup. Eastern had found a groove on offense and pushed the lead to double digits at 22-12. Angelo Allegri connected from three to build the advantage for the Eagles.

The Broncos would deliver the counter with an 8-0 run. As the score tightened up again, Eastern distributed the ball well, getting points form Cedric Coward and Deon Stroud. With the Eagles holding a 34-30 lead, Santa Clara made its move, ripping of a 9-2 stretch to take the lead into the half.

Eastern shot 35.3 percent in the first half and trailed 39-34. The Broncos shot 34.1 percent.

Early in the second half, Santa Clara maintained a double-digit lead over the Eagles, leading by as much as 14 points through the first three minutes of the half. The Broncos advantage would continue through the first 10 minutes of the half. Dane Erikstrup and Casey Jones provided scoring for Eastern to open the second half to keep the team's energy up. With Santa Clara leading 57-43 at 12:38 left in the game, the Eagles rallied with a 10-2 stretch to cut the lead down to six. Tyreese Davis scored six points during the run to apply pressure to the Broncos. Santa Clara worked to rebuild the lead, but Allegri scored five points to keep increasing the pressure. The effort was evident from Eastern, but the Broncos continued to score, never allowing the lead to slip below four points.

Santa Clara closed the game on a 6-0 run and would win, 84-72 over Eastern. The Eagles shot well in the second half, with a 50 percent mark. The Broncos shot 41.2 percent from the floor in the half.

Eastern Washington had a higher shooting percentage at 42 percent to Santa Clara's 37 percent. The Broncos did have a 32-percent to 24-percent advantage from three-point range.

Eastern opens the season 0-1 with Santa Clara moving to 1-0.

Key Statistics
Casey Jones recorded his first career double-double, scoring 10 points and pulling down a career-high 10 rebounds. The sophomore was 4-of-5(80%) from the floor and added two blocks to lead the team.

Five transfers made their debuts for Eastern Washington Monday night. Tyreese Davis, Dane Erikstrup, Deon Stroud and Cedric Coward all scored in their first game as Eagles. Ty Harper also earned his first playing minutes for Eastern.

Erikstrup scored 11 points of 5-of-10(50%) shooting, adding five rebounds.

Angelo Allegri had five rebounds and three assists in addition to his 19 points.

Ethan Price scored four points and had nine rebounds in the game.

The Eagles were out rebounded, 50 to 40 in the game. Despite having a 15 to eight advantage in offensive rebounds, Santa Clara lost the second chance points battle, 10 to 8 to Eastern.

Santa Clara's Bra Podzimski scored 30 points and Carlos Stewart added 20 to lead the Broncos.

Up Next
Eastern Washington will compete in the Outrigger Rainbow Classic in Honolulu, Hawai'i, starting Friday, Nov. 11 against Yale at 7:30 p.m. Pacific Time. Eastern will then play host Hawaii on Sunday, Nov. 13 at 8 p.m. The tournament concludes on Monday, Nov. 14 against Mississippi Valley State at 7:30 p.m.