Not done yet.
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The 2021-22 season will continue on for the Eastern Washington University men's basketball team. The Eagles have accepted an invitation to The Basketball Classic presented Eracism, and will travel to Fresno, Calif., to take on Fresno State on Thursday, March 17, at 7 p.m. Pacific time in the Save Mart Center.
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The Basketball Classic is a 32-team tournament open to deserving teams not selected to participate in the NCAA tournament or NIT.
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The tournament will begin this week with the semifinals scheduled for Tuesday, March 29th and the Championship game on Thursday, March 31st. Each game of The Basketball Classic will be held on the campus of one of the participating schools. The field and matchups will be set after each round.
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Administering The Basketball Classic is a panel that previously conducted the College Insider, Inc. Postseason Tournament (CIT) from 2009-19.
All games will be broadcast on the ESPN+ platform, and Eastern Washington's game will also be on 700-AM ESPN & 103.5 FM or KXLY 920-AM/1007.FM in Cheney.
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Eastern Washington finished the regular season 18-15 overall and 11-9 in Big Sky Conference play under first-year head coach
David Riley. Eastern earned a No. 6 seed and topped No. 11 Northern Arizona in the first round of the Big Sky Championships, before dropping a heartbreaker to No. 3 Northern Colorado in the quarterfinals, 68-67.
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The Eagles have won seven of their last 10 games and are led by a pair of Second Team All-Big Sky performers in
Steele Venters (16.6 ppg) and
Linton Acliese III (16.2 ppg, 7.3 rpg).
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Fresno State plays in the Mountain West Conference where they finished 8-9 and 19-13 overall. Like Eastern Washington, the Bulldogs lost in the quarterfinals to No. 3 San Diego State after beating San Jose State in overtime in the first round.
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Eastern Washington and Fresno Stated played once before EWU was a Division I member in 1985 where the Eagles lost. Against Mountain West opponents, the Eagles are 12-59 all-time. The Eagles played on other Mountain West opponent this year in Nevada, losing 91-76 in the season opener.
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This is Eastern's eighth appearance in a national postseason tournament and the second-straight after advancing to the NCAA Tournament in 2021. Besides 2021, Eastern Washington has played in the NCAA Tournament in 2004 and 2015 and played in the NIT in 2003. They have played in three College Basketball Invitational (CBI) tournaments in 2016, 2017 and 2018.
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In the 2016 CBI, Eastern recorded its first win in a national postseason tournament as a member of Division I with a 79-72 home win over Pepperdine. The Eagles are now 1-7 in postseason national tournaments as a member of NCAA Division I, and
7-12 overall.
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NCAA Division I Postseason Tournament Results (1-7)
3/20/21 - NCAA Tournament - #12 rank/#3 seed Kansas (Indianapolis, Ind.) - L, 84-93
3/13/18 – College Basketball Invitational - at Utah Valley (Orem, Utah) - L, 65-87
3/15/17 – College Basketball Invitational - at Wyoming (Laramie, Wyo.) - L, 81-91
3/21/16 – College Basketball Invitational - at Nevada (Reno, Nev.) - L, 70-85
3/16/16 – College Basketball Invitational - Pepperdine (Cheney, Wash.) - W, 79-72
3/19/15 – NCAA Tournament - #22 rank/#4 seed Georgetown (Portland, Ore.) - L, 74-84
3/19/04 – NCAA Tournament - #3 rank/#2 seed Okla. St. (Kansas City, Mo.) - L, 56-75
3/20/03 – National Invitation Tournament - at Wyoming (Laramie, Wyo.) - L, 71-78