GAME NOTES VS MONTANA STATE

After a weekend that saw the Eastern Washington University men's basketball team win two-straight after dropping four-straight, the Eagles face another big challenge in this week's slate of games.
 
Eastern hosts first-place Montana State on Thursday, Feb. 17 at Reese Court. Tip-off is set for 6 p.m. Pacific time, and will be broadcast both regionally on SWX and ESPN+. Larry Weir will have the call on 700-AM ESPN. The Bobcats have won 11-straight, including a 69-65 win over Eastern Washington in Bozeman back on Jan. 27, 2022.
 
Tickets for Thursday's game are available at GoEags.com/tickets, and free tacos are available for the first 200 students, courtesy of Outback Steakhouse. A reminder that concession and hospitality areas are back open at Reese Court, but masks and proof of COVID-19 vaccination (or a negative test within the last 72 hours) are required for entry.
 
On Saturday, Feb. 19, the Eagles make the short trek to Moscow, Idaho to play the Idaho Vandals. Tip-off is set for approximately 3:30 p.m. after the Eagle and Vandal women face off at 1 p.m. Eastern Washington beat Idaho by three-points, 96-93, on Jan. 8, 2022 in Reese Court. That game will also be on SWX regionally, plus ESPN+ and 700-AM ESPN.
 
A LOOK AT THE EAGLES: Eastern Washington is 13-12 overall and 7-7 in Big Sky Conference games. The Eagles came off of a tough five-game road stretch where they went 1-4 and returned to Reese Court and beat first-place Weber State by a score of a 75-67 and then Idaho State, 75-72, to get back on the winning track.
 
The Eagles average 76.6 points per game, the fourth-most offensive output in the conference. They lead the conference and rank 28th in the nation with 16.0 assists per game, totaling 401 to rank 34th. Eastern Washington pulls down 37.48 rebounds per game to rank second in the conference and 75th nationally, with 937 total boards to rank 79th. Eastern has out-rebounded its opponents in 15 games this year. They average 27.92 defensive boards per game which is 29th in the nation.
 
EWU is also one of the nation's top three-point shooting teams, firing off 222 total this year to rank 55^th in the NCAA. Eastern also has a stifling three-point defense, only allowing opponents to shoot 31.2 percent behind the arc to rank first in the conference and 80th nationally. Eastern Washington ranks 54th in the NCAA and third in the Big Sky with 8.9 three-pointers per game. The squad has made double-digit triples in six out of the last 10 games, with season highs of 14 against Idaho and 13 against Idaho State.
 
The Eagles are also solid at the free throw line, ranking 34th nationally with 374 free throws made and 64th with 491 attempts. EWU makes 76.2 percent of its attempts to rank 32nd in the country.
 
Eastern is 3-0 this season when scoring 90 or more points, and 4-2 when shooting between 50-to-60 percent from the field.
 
Eastern Washington boasts four players who average double figures, all of which rank in the top-25 in the Big Sky. Steele Venters (6th, 16.8 ppg) leads the way, followed by Linton Acliese III (7th, 15.2 ppg) and Rylan Bergersen (12th, 13.3 ppg). Angelo Allegri rounds out the offense with 11.5 points per game to rank 25th. Four Eagles also rank in the top-21 in the conference in rebounding in Acliese (7th, 6.8 rpg), Allegri (10th, 6.5 rpg), Bergersen (18th, 4.8 rpg), and Ethan Price (21st, 4.6).
 
YOU CAN CALL HIM BOOGIE: Linton Acliese III or "Boogie" was honored on Jan. 4 with the ROAR Organic Big Sky Player of the Week nod after leading Eastern to two Big Sky road wins at Portland State and Northern Arizona. It was the first Player of the Week nod for the program this season. 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. He scored 30 points at Northern Arizona to go with 11 rebounds for his then-fourth double-double of the season.
 
Currently, Acliese ranks eighth in the Big Sky in points (15.2) per game and seven in rebounds (7.0) per game. He's scored in double figures in 19 out of the 22 games he has played in, including 12 out of the last 13, to go with five double-doubles. He is second in the Big Sky in field goal percentage, knocking down 51.8 percent (132-255) of his attempts.
 
STAT SHEET STUFFER: Rylan Bergersen ranks third on the team and 12th in the Big Sky with 13.3 points per game, but there's more to it. He's led the team in assists in 16 games, ranking sixth in the Big Sky and 105th in the nation with 4.1 per game. He has 103 assists on the year to rank 89th across all of Division I, and has three-or-more assists in every game but three, including at least four in 13. He's sixth in the conference in assist to turnover ratio with 1.78.
 
Bergersen can rebound, too, ranking third on the team and 18^th in the Big Sky with 4.8 per game. He's pulled down four-or-more rebounds in 18 games. On the defensive side, he's 10th in the conference with 1.2 steals per game, with at least one in every game but six. Last but not least, he ranks 67th in the nation with 67 free throws made and is 68th with 126 attempts.
 
MOVES LIKE GELO: Angelo Allegri has emerged as a steady three-point shooter for Eastern Washington. He knocks down an average of 2.2 triples per game to rank sixth in the Big Sky, and has at least one three-pointer in 23 out of 25 games. Additionally, he's made at least two in 16 games and three-or-more in nine. Against Multnomah on Dec. 15, he made a career-best six. Allegri ranks second on the team with 57 triples total, shooting 35.2 percent from behind the arc and averaging 6.5 attempts per game. He currently averages 11.5 points per game and has scored in double figures 16 times, including a career-best 23 against Multnomah and 21 points against Idaho.
 
He is emerging as one of the team's top-rebounders, too. Against Sacramento State, he earned his first career double-double of 14 points and 14 rebounds, the most boards by an Eagle this season. His second double-double came at Montana with 11 points and 11 rebounds before tallying 14 points and 10 boards at Weber State. He has led the team in rebounding in nine games, including eight out of the last 11. He has grabbed at least seven boards in nine out of the last 16 games. Allegri ranks 10th in the Big Sky with 6.5 per game.
 
VENTERS IS EFFICIENT: One of the sharpest shooters in the Big Sky, redshirt-freshman Steele Venters leads the team and ranks sixth in the conference with 16.7 points per game. Not only does Venters like to shoot, he does it well, knocking down 45.5 percent from the field to rank sixth in the Big Sky. He leads the league in three-point percentage as well, knocking down 2.8 per game at a clip of 44.9 percent, a mark that ranks fifth in all of Division I. At the free throw line, he ranks third in the conference with a clip of 85.2 percent.
 
Venters has scored in double figures in 19 out of 24 games, including 10 games with 20-or-more points. He has scored 20-or-more points in six Big Sky games, with a career-high 29 against Southern Utah. Venters has made a three-pointer in every game this year except one, including two or more in 19. He has a career-high six against Southern Utah and followed up with five against Omaha, Colorado, Idaho and Idaho State. Nationally, he ranks fifth in three-point field goal percentage, 55th in three-pointers per game, 61st in total three's made and 122nd with 401 total points. He has also made 12-straight free throw attempts.
 
LAST TIME OUT: The Eastern Washington University men's basketball team edged the visiting Idaho State Bengals at Reese Court (Feb. 12) by a final score of 75-72. With the win, Eastern Washington improves to 13-12 overall and 7-7 in Big Sky Conference play, while ISU falls to 5-18 and 3-11. The Eagles also win their third-straight over Idaho State and sweep the regular season meetings.
 
Eastern Washington led for 33:51 of the contest and the game overall had six ties and seven lead changes. Steele Venters was incredibly consistent at the free throw line, making eight-of-eight attempts, four of which came with less than 21 seconds left in the game. With nine seconds left to play, the Eagles led by just a point before Venters put the game away with two free throws to help EWU hold on to the victory.
 
UP NEXT: The final regular season road trip of the year takes place next week on Thursday, Feb. 24 at Northern Colorado and on Saturday, Feb. 26 at Sacramento State. Eastern Washington lost to the Bears but beat the Hornets at Reese Court earlier in January. Both games will be streamed on ESPN+.
 
A LOOK AT THE BOBCATS: Montana State is 20-5 overall and sits in first place in the league standings with a record of 12-2, winning 11-straight games. The Bobcats average 76.4 points per game, just behind EWU's mark of 76.6. Montana State shoots 46.8 percent from the field, while holding its opponents to 41.6 percent. It should be a good defensive battle, as the Eagles allow opponents to shoot 42.4 percent which is behind MSU to rank second in the conference. Both teams also offer a stifling three-point defense, with EWU allowing opponents to shoot 31.2 percent behind the arc to lead the league and MSU following with 31.9 percent for its opponents.
 
SERIES HISTORY: The Eastern Washington University men's basketball lost a close match-up at Montana State tonight (Jan. 27) by a score of 69-65 in Bozeman, Mont.
Linton Acliese III earned his fifth double-double of the season with 22 points and 10 rebounds. Angelo Allegri followed with 17 points and seven rebounds.
 
The game had five ties and six lead changes, and both teams shot under 40 percent with 10 three-pointers each. But the main discrepancy came at the free throw line and on the glass. Four different Eagles scored during an early 10-0 run to help EWU lead 10-1. The Bobcats were 0-for-7 on their first attempts from the field and did not make a field goal until the 15:46 mark of the first half. That's when the script flipped, and Montana State went on a 19-0 run to retake a 20-10 lead while holding EWU scoreless for 10:32. EWU held a 43-41 lead with 11:15 to go in the first matchup, but Xavier Bishop hit a 3-pointer on MSU's next possession and the Bobcats never trailed again.
 
The loss snapped a six-game win streak for EWU over the Bobcats, and the series is tied 47-47 all-time.