For the second-straight season, Eastern Washington men's basketball has a win over a Pac-12 opponent. Eastern defeated California, 50-48 on Wednesday (Dec. 7) in Berkeley, Calif. The Eagles improved to 4-5 this season and Cal drops to 0-10.

After the Eagles led for the majority of the game, Cal made a late run, tying the game with under a minute to play. Tyreese Davis would drive to the net and score to get the lead back for the Eagles. A defensive stop from Eastern and key rebound by Casey Jones clinched the team's first road win.

Jones recorded his second career double-double with 10 points and a career-high, 14 rebounds. Davis matched his career-high as an Eagle with 14 points on 6-of-10(60%) shooting.

"I'm really proud of this win. Our guys were focused and closed [Cal] out. It's something we worked on after the NDSU game with end-of-game situations. For our guys to get better at what we practice, it's really encouraging," head coach David Riley said. "We were planning on running a little late, but they pressured early and Tyreese [Davis] saw the chance to get to the rim. Casey [Jones] has really improved and I saw it every day in practice. He wanted to stay in the gym and just keep working. Cal does some difficult stuff defensively that gave us some trouble. But we have to focus on improving and building a foundation."


Eastern scored quickly in the game, as Angelo Allegri made the first layup for the early lead. The Eagles would open a 6-2 advantage over the Golden Bears and extended it to 10-6 on a Dane Erikstrup jumper. Cal remained close, and the score was 12-9 Eagles with 12:10 on the clock in the half. Casey Jones would then connect from three to give Eastern a 15-9 lead. After a Cal-made field goal, Tyreese Davis delivered with a pair of layups to keep the Eagles in front. The Golden Bears responded and the lead for Eastern was 19-17 with 3:55 left in the half. Allegri came up with another layup, but the score was matched by Cal on its next possession. The game then turned into a free throw shooting contest, as Eastern made three attempts and Cal made two in the last two-and-a-half minutes of the half. The first half ended the same way it began, as Allegri drained a long three at the buzzer. Eastern held a 27-20 lead at halftime, after shooting 40.0 percent from the floor. Cal was held to a 32.0 shooting percentage in the first 20 minutes.

In the second half, the Eagles came out hot, going on a 7-2 run to build a 34-22 lead at 16:22. Ethan Price and Davis each had a layup and Cedric Coward hit a three to fuel the run. Both teams would then struggle to find points, going two-and-a-half minutes without any scoring. Cal would score at 13:32 on a made jumper. The Golden Bears pulled within five of Eastern at 36-31 with 8:54 left in the game. Jones quickly silenced Cal with a three-pointer. Davis would again drive into the paint for the easy layup and the Eagles were back to a double-digit lead at 41-31. After a made three by the Golden Bears, Davis knocked down a jumper for the immediate response. The teams traded baskets and the score was 45-36 with 5:22 on the clock. A 5-0 spurt from Cal forced an Eastern timeout to regroup. The run extended to 7-0 before Allegri came up with a timely three to stop the damage. Down 48-43, the Golden Bears scored five-straight points to tie the game at 48 with 33 seconds left. As he had done all night, Davis drove into the paint and converted the layup for a 50-48 Eastern lead. On Cal's next possession, they attempted a three-point shot but missed and Jones came up with the defensive rebound. The Eagles won the game 50-48. Eastern shot 37.0 percent in the second half, while Cal had a 37.4 percentage.

Overall, Eastern Washington shot 38.5 percent for the game and 21.7 from three-point range. The Golden Bears shot 38.6 percent and struggled with a 13.3 percent.

Key Statistics
Eastern Washington has now defeated a Pac-12 program in two consecutive seasons. The Eagles defeated Washington State (76-71) in Pullman, Wash. in November of 2021. 

Eastern had three players score in double figures, with Tyreese Davis (14), Angelo Allegri (11) and Casey Jones (14). It was Allegri's 27^th career game scoring in double figures and the fourth for both Davis and Jones.

Jones' double-double was the second this season after getting his first against Santa Clara (11/7) in the season opener. The sophomore's 14 rebounds are the most by an Eagle player this season.

The Eagles had nine steals in the game, led by Davis who had three that matched his career-high. The Golden Bears had 17 turnovers overall in the game, while Eastern had 13. The teams matched in points off turnovers with 11 each.

Eastern and Cal tied in rebounds with 32 apiece. The Eagles had a slight advantage in the paint, scoring 30 points to the Golden Bears' 28.

Cal never led in the game and there were only two occasions when the score was tied.

Up Next
Eastern Washington's next road game will be Saturday, Dec. 10 against South Dakota State at 2 p.m. Pacific Time.