GAME NOTES

The longest road stretch of the season will finally come to a close on Saturday night (Feb. 5) for the Eastern Washington University men's basketball team when they rematch Southern Utah. Tip-off is set for 6 p.m. Pacific time in Cedar City, Utah, on ESPN+ and 700-AM ESPN.
 
Eastern Washington has lost three-straight games for the first time since the 2020-21 season. This game serves as rematch from a loss to Southern Utah on Dec. 2 at Reese Court. The Eagles sit at 11-11 overall and 5-6 in Big Sky play, while the Thunderbirds have won five out of their last six games including three-straight to sit at 14-6 and 8-2.
 
A LOOK AT THE EAGLES: Eastern Washington is 11-11 overall and 5-6 in Big Sky Conference games. The Eagles have played four-straight on the road with an 89-63 win at Idaho State (Jan. 24) and losses at Montana State (Jan. 27), Montana (Jan. 29), and Weber State (Jan. 31). Four of Eastern's six losses in conference play have been decided by six points or less, falling to Northern Colorado (87-83), Montana State (69-65), Montana (61-59) and Weber State (90-84).
 
The Eagles average 76.9 points per game, the fourth-most offensive output in the conference. They lead the conference and rank 26th in the nation with 16.3 assists per game, totaling 358 to rank 22nd. Eastern Washington pulls down 38.27 rebounds per game to rank second in the conference and 60th nationally, with 842 total boards to rank 52nd. Eastern has out-rebounded its opponents in 13 games this year. They average 28.50 defensive boards per game which is 20th in the nation.
 
EWU is also one of the nation's top three-point shooting teams, firing off 197 total this year to rank 41st in the NCAA. Eastern also has a stifling three-point defense, only allowing opponents to shoot 31.0 percent behind the arc to rank first in the conference and 74th nationally. Eastern Washington ranks 51st in the NCAA and third in the Big Sky with 9.0 three-pointers per game. The squad has made double-digit triples in fiveout of the last seven games, with season highs of 14 against Idaho and 13 against Idaho State.
 
The Eagles are also solid at the free throw line, ranking 19th nationally with 337 free throws made and 33rd with 446 attempts. EWU makes 75.6 percent of its attempts to rank 44th in the country.
 
Eastern is 3-0 this season when scoring 90 or more points, and 4-1 when shooting between 50-to-60 percent from the field.
 
Eastern Washington boasts four players who average double figures, three of which rank in the top-12 in the Big Sky. Steele Venters (5th, 16.5 ppg) leads the way, followed by Linton Acliese III (6th, 16.1 ppg) and Rylan Bergersen (12th, 13.3 ppg). Angelo Allegri rounds out the offense with 11.5 points per game. Four Eagles also rank in the top-22 in the conference in rebounding in Acliese (7th, 7.2 rpg), Allegri (10th, 6.8 rpg), Bergersen (20th, 4.9 rpg), and Ethan Price (22nd, 4.9).
 
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.
 
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 win 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 sixth in the Big Sky in points (16.1) per game and seventh in rebounds (7.2) per game. He's scored in double figures in 17 out of the 19 games he has played in, including 10-straight, to go with five double-doubles. He is second in the Big Sky in field goal percentage, knocking down 52.5 percent (115-219) of his attempts. Additionally, Acliese is third in free throw percentage, making 51 of his 60 attempts from the line to shoot 85.0 percent which is 74th in the nation. For good measure, he adds 1.2 assists, 0.3 steals and 0.4 blocks per game.
 
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 15 games, ranking third in the Big Sky and 88th in the nation with 4.3 per game. He has 95 assists on the year and has three-or-more assists in every game but two, including at least four in 13. He's fifth in the conference in assist to turnover ratio with 1.8.
 
Bergersen can rebound, too, ranking third on the team and 20th in the Big Sky with 4.9 per game. He's pulled down four-or-more rebounds in 16 games. On the defensive side, he's eighth in the conference with 1.4 steals per game, with at least one in every game but four. Last but not least, he ranks 37th in the nation with 91 free throws made and is 42nd with 117 attempts.
 
In the two games against Sacramento State and Northern Colorado, Bergersen led the team in points, steals and assists. He averaged 20.5 points, 5.5 rebounds, 5.5 assists and 3.0 steals in the contests. He also shot 51.9 percent (14-27) from the field, 60 percent (3-5) from three-point range, and 76.9 percent (10-13) from the free throw line. Against Idaho State, he scored nine points to go with five rebounds and six assists and at Weber State he scored 17 points on 7-for-9 from the field with three assists.
 
MOVES LIKE GELO: Angelo Allegri has emerged as a steady three-point shooter for Eastern Washington. He knocks down an average of 2.4 triples per game to rank sixth in the Big Sky, and has at least one three-pointer in 20 out of 22 games. Additionally, he's made at least two in 14 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 52 triples total, shooting 36.6 percent from behind the arc and averaging 6.4 attempts per game. He currently averages 11.5 points per game and has scored in double figures 14 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 seven games, including six out of the last eight. He has grabbed at least seven boards in nine out of the last 13 games, including nine out of the last 10. Allegri ranks 10th in the Big Sky with 6.8 per game.
 
VENTERS IS EFFICIENT: One of the sharpest shooters in the Big Sky, redshirt-freshman Steele Venters leads the team and ranks fifth in the conference with 16.5 points per game. Not only does Venters like to shoot, he does it well, knocking down 45.7 percent from the field to rank eighth in the Big Sky. He leads the league in three-point percentage as well, knocking down 2.7 per game at a clip of 45.6 percent, a mark that ranks 10th in all of Division I. At the free throw line, he ranks fourth in the conference with a clip of 83.6 percent.
 
Venters has scored in double figures in 16 out of 20 games, including nine games with 20-or-more points. He has scored 20-or-more points in five 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 16. He has a career-high six against Southern Utah and followed up with five against Omaha, Colorado, Idaho and Idaho State. Nationally, he ranks 10th in three-point field goal percentage, 54^th in three-pointers per game, 59th in total three's made, 74th in free throw percentage, and 115^th with 347 total points.
 
ROAD WARRIORS: Of Eastern's 22 games so far this season, 14 have been on the road plus one a neutral site. The road has been kind to the Eagles, though, as they have a record of 7-7 away from Reese Court in true away games. Eastern picked up a gritty overtime win against CSUN on Nov. 19 and upset the Cougars in Pullman on Nov. 27 for signature road victories, and one loss is a 60-57 defeat at Colorado. The Eagles are wrapping up five-straight road games. It started off on a high note with an 89-63 win over Idaho State on Jan. 24 before three-straight losses to Montana State, Montana and Weber State. It's now on to Southern Utah (Feb. 5) for the longest road stretch of the year. EWU won't be back at home until Feb. 10 to host Weber State.
 
LAST TIME OUT: A four-game road trip for the Eastern Washington University men's basketball team came to a close at Weber State with a 90-84 loss. All five starters scored in double figures and the Eagles shot 51.5 percent in the defeat. Linton Acliese III scored in double figures for the 10^th-straight game, scoring 21 points. It marked the seventh 20-plus point performance of the season for Acliese. For the second-straight game, Angelo Allegri earned a double-double, scoring 14 points and adding 10 rebounds. Rylan Bergersen (17 points), Ethan Price (16 points) and Steele Venters (11 points) also scored in double figures.
 
The game would move in to a 13-13 tie before Angelo Allegri sank a triple for another 7-0 run, and the Eagles found their largest lead of the half at 21-15. Weber State went on an 11-0 run after that, pulling ahead 29-25. Allegri's second triple with 6:06 left made it a one-point, 31-30, game in WSU's favor. However, the Eagles would not make a field goal for the final 4:40 of the game and the Wildcats led 46-35 at the half.
 
Weber State came out after the half and built its largest lead of 58-43. The Eagles refused to back down, quickly going on an 11-2 run that included seven points from Linton Acliese III to cut the lead to six points, 60-54.
 
The Wildcats went back up by 14-points after another 6-0 run. The Eagles got as close as five points with 16 seconds left to play after a layup by Venters, but the Wildcats proved to be too much as they hung on for the 90-84 victory.
 
A LOOK AT THE THUNDERBIRDS: Southern Utah is 14-6 overall and 8-2 in Big Sky play. The Thunderbirds have won five of their last six games including three-straight.
 
The Thunderbirds lead the Big Sky with 79.6 points per game and 40.6 rebounds per game. They shoot at a 45.3 percent clip compared to its opponent's 42.1 percent. Trevian Jones, 15.6 ppg, and John Knight III, 14.9 ppg, rank eighth and ninth in the conference in scoring, respectively. Knight shoots 54.7 percent from the field and averages 2.0 steals per game, both of which lead the conference.
 
SERIES HISTORY: Eastern Washington leads the all-time series with Southern Utah, 16-8, including a 5-5 overall record in Cedar City. The two squads played on back-to-back days last season, splitting the decision. The Eagles won 75-63 before falling 99-94 the next day.
 
EWU and the Thunderbirds opened Big Sky play earlier this season on Dec. 2. The Eagles fell behind 41-33 at the half and got as close to four points in the second, but the Thunderbirds left Cheney with the 89-76 victory. Steele Venters put up his third 20-plus point performance of the season with a career-high 29 points. He was 9-of-17 from the field, three of which were three-pointers. He also added five rebounds and two assists.
 
UP NEXT: Eastern Washington finally returns home on Thursday, Feb. 10 to host Weber State at Reese Court at 6 p.m. before taking on Idaho State at home on Saturday, Feb. 12 at 2 p.m.
 
Tickets are available at GoEags.com/tickets. 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 at all times. Eastern Washington would also like to remind fans that concession stands are now back open, this includes hospitality areas such as the Eagle Club and the Sixth Man Club.