The Eastern Washington University men's basketball team concluded its Big Sky Conference Championships run tonight (March 10) in the quarterfinals in Boise, Idaho.
The No. 6 seeded Eagles trailed by 17 points with 15:15 left to play, but missed its final attempts under the basket and fell 68-67 to No. 3 Northern Colorado.
 
Eastern Washington finishes with an overall record of 18-15 and 11-9 in conference action. The Bears advance to tomorrow's semifinal matchup against No. 7 Portland State, improving to 19-14 overall.
 
Steele Venters led the team with 22 points, 13 of which came in a big comeback effort in the second half. Linton Acliese III earned his seventh double-double of the season, finishing with 12 points and 11 rebounds. Rylan Bergersen (14 points) and Angelo Allegri (10 points, nine rebounds) also scored in double figures while Ethan Price finished with nine points, eight rebounds and three blocks.
 
A 10-0 run that included seven points from Venters put Eastern back in position to win, cutting the lead to 58-56 with under five to play. The Bears would pull back ahead by eight points with under three minutes left when Venters hit a jumper to make it a three-point game, 66-63, with 1:40 on the clock. Eastern finished on a 4-0 run thanks to four made free throws by Bergersen and Acliese, as UNC scored its final points with 1:16 left to play. Down 68-67, Price came up with a huge block and Venters grabbed the defensive board as time ticked under 10 seconds, EWU missed its final attempts under the basket as the comeback came up just short by a point.
 
"We ran into a really good team who shot it well. Hats off to Northern Colorado, they played a great game. I'm just really proud of our guys for being who they are. We have fighters, we have scrappers, we have a bunch of guys who have been overlooked their entire career. We're a team that wasn't supposed to be in this position. Northern Colorado was up by 17 with 15 minutes left to go. This shows the character, the grit, and the fight of our guys and who they are as people and basketball players," said first-year head coach David Riley. "We came up short, we came up one play short. This will be a game we remember for the rest of our lives as something we can be proud of and walk out with our heads up."
 
Eastern Washington started the game off by forcing two key turnovers that turned into four points for early leads of 4-0 and 6-2. Things went south from there, as the Bears used a 13-0 run that stretched to 16-2 to pull ahead 18-8.
 
In all, the run was 21-4 and Northern Colorado took its largest lead of 26-12. The Eagles trimmed the lead down to single digits after Venters made his 80^th three-pointer of the season to cap a 7-0 run, 28-21.
 
After the Bears found another 9-0 spurt to create some space with a 34-21 lead, a Price three-pointer put EWU back within single digits, 37-28, after a mini 5-0 spurt.
 
Despite shooting 54 percent (14-26) during the first half compared to 42 percent (14-33) for the Bears, the Eagles trailed 42-32 at the break. Northern Colorado was 9-for-18 from three-point range in the first half while EWU only had two triples for the difference.  
 
Northern Colorado came out after the half and built its largest lead of 51-34. With 15:15 left to play, the Eagles trailed by 17 points.
 
Both teams struggled with scoreless spells down the stretch, and with 7:06 remaining, Eastern had trimmed the lead down to 56-46. That's when the Eagles heated up. After a Rylan Bergersen three-point play, Venters scored seven-straight points in a 10-0 run to cut the deficit to 58-56 with 4:39 left to play.
 
The Bears found their groove, firing off two more triples to extend the lead back out to 64-56. With 1:39 left to play, Venters cut the lead down to 66-63. Northern Colorado scored its final field goal of the night with 1:16 left on the clock, pulling ahead 68-63. Both Bergersen and Acliese headed to the line and combined to make four free throws, ending the game on a 4-0 run, and cutting UNC's lead down to a point, 68-67.
 
With 12 seconds left, Price had a block on Northern Colorado's final field goal attempt and the rebound was grabbed by Venters. Down at the other end, Eastern missed its final attempts as time ticked down, coming up just short of its fifth-straight semifinal appearance.
 
TOP PERFORMANCES: Steele Venters led the way with 22 points. He was 9-of-18 from the field, 2-for-5 from three-point range and 2-for-2 from the free throw line. He finished with one block, two steals, an assist and four rebounds.
 
Boise native Rylan Bergersen ended with 14 points on 5-of-8 from the field and 4-of-5 from the free throw line. He added five rebounds, a steal and a block.
 
Linton Acliese III earned his seventh double-double of the season with 12 points and 11 rebounds, also adding two assists and a steal.
 
Angelo Allegri was the final Eagle in double figures, making 4-of-9 from the field for 10 points. He recorded a block, two steals and an assist.
 
Ethan Price finished with nine points, eight rebounds, three blocks and an assist. He was 4-of-8 from the field.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE: Eastern Washington shot 53.8 percent from the field in the first half but were held to 36.4 percent in the second, finishing with 44.1 percent (26-59) overall. They were held to a season-low 3-of-15 (20%) from the field and were 12-for-17 from the free throw line.
However, the Eagles crashed the boards and out-rebounded UNC 41-to-33, each team finishing with 10 offensive rebounds. Eastern scored four second-chance points and UNC had eight. In the paint, Eastern outscored the Bears 34-to-14. The Eagles had just eight assists, but also recorded six blocks.
 
Northern Colorado was 9-of-18 from three-point range in the first half, but the Eagles held them to 4-for-13 in the second. In all, the Bears were 13-for-31 from three-point range (41.9%), and just 37.5 percent (24-64) from the field and 7-for-10 from the free throw line. The Bears forced 10 Eagle turnovers, turning them in to 15 points. Eastern forced eight for seven points.
 
There was only one lead change in the game, as Eastern led for 4:22 and the Bears led for 35:30.
 
UP NEXT: Eastern will await to see if they land in a postseason invitational. Stay tuned to GoEags.com for future schedule announcements.