GAME NOTES VS. NORTHERN ARIZONA

The final week of the regular season has arrived for the Eastern Washington University men's basketball team. The Eagles host Northern Arizona and Portland State at Reese Court on Thursday, March 3, and Saturday, March 5, with tip-offs set for 6 p.m. Pacific time and 2 p.m. PT, respectively. Both games will be broadcast on ESPN+ and 700-AM ESPN.
 
Entering the final week of the regular season, the Eagles are tied for sixth with Portland State in the standings, sitting at 15-14 overall and 9-9 in Big Sky Conference play. The Vikings are 11-15 overall. Northern Arizona is in ninth-place at 9-20 and 5-13.
 
THIS WEEK AT REESE COURT: Due to the decline of COVID-19 infections and the Governor's updated mandate, the vaccination or proof of a negative test mandate at Reese Court has been lifted, and you longer need to show proof of vaccination for entry. Fans are still required to wear a mask unless actively eating or drinking.
 
Prior to Saturday's game, the Eagles will say goodbye to two seniors in Linton Acliese III and Rylan Bergersen for Senior Day. There is also free food for the first 200 students on Thursday (mac and cheese and churros) and Saturday (chicken wings and drinks), courtesy of Outback Steakhouse.
 
A LOOK AT THE EAGLES: Eastern Washington is 15-14 overall and 9-9 in Big Sky Conference games. The Eagles split a pair of road games last week, winning 85-76 on Feb. 24 at Northern Colorado before losing to Sacramento State 81-75 on Feb. 26.
 
The Eagles average 77.3 points per game, the third-highest offensive output in the conference. They lead the conference and rank 29th in the nation with 15.97 assists per game, totaling 463 to rank 30th. Eastern Washington pulls down 37.0 rebounds per game to rank second in the conference and 78th nationally, with 1,074 total boards to rank 87th. Eastern has out-rebounded its opponents in 18 games this year. They average 27.79 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 255 total this year to rank 60th in the NCAA. Eastern also has a stifling three-point defense, only allowing opponents to shoot 32.4 percent behind the arc to rank second in the conference. Eastern Washington ranks 52nd in the NCAA and second in the Big Sky with 8.8 three-pointers per game. The squad has made double-digit triples in seven out of the last 14 games, with season highs of 14 against Idaho and 13 against Idaho State.
 
The Eagles are also solid at the free throw line, ranking 31st nationally with 437 free throws made and 56th with 577 attempts. EWU makes 75.7 percent of its attempts to rank 39th in the country. Eastern is 3-0 this season when scoring 90 or more points, and 6-3 when shooting between 50-to-60 percent from the field. However, they are 0-7 when opponents shoot over 50 percent.
 
Eastern Washington boasts five players who average double figures, four of which rank in the top-24 in the Big Sky. Steele Venters (6th, 16.7 ppg) leads the way, followed by Linton Acliese III (7th, 15.9 ppg) and Rylan Bergersen (15th, 13.3 ppg). Angelo Allegri rounds out the offense with 11.8 points per game to rank 24th and Ethan Price adds 10.0. Four Eagles also rank in the top-21 in the conference in rebounding in Acliese (6th, 7.0 rpg), Allegri (9th, 6.5 rpg), Bergersen (17th, 4.9 rpg), and Ethan Price (23rd, 4.6).
 
YOU CAN CALL HIM BOOGIE: Linton Acliese III or "Boogie" has taken home both of EWU's Big Sky Player of the Week nods this first. First, on Jan. 4 after two road wins at Portland State and Northern Arizona, and again on Feb. 22 after scoring 38 and 20 points in a pair of games.
 
Over the two games in January, 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.
 
Against Montana State and Idaho, Acliese averaged 29.0 points and 8.0 rebounds per game over two contests. He shot 63.6 percent from the field (21-33) and was 11-12 (91.7%) from the free throw line, plus made five three-pointers. He also added 1.5 assists and 0.5 blocks per game. His 38-points against Montana State set a new career-high, and were the most points scored by a Big Sky player this season. It ranks tied for 14th all-time in program history, and are the most points scored in a game since Jacob Davison dropped 41 in 2019. In the win, he was 13-19 from the field, 5-10 from three-point range and 7-8 from the free throw line. He also contributed with eight rebounds, a block, and an assist.
 
Currently, Acliese ranks seventh in the Big Sky in points (15.9) per game and sixth in rebounds (7.0) per game. He's scored in double figures in 22 out of the 26 games he has played in, including 15 out of the last 17, to go with five double-doubles. He has scored in 20-or-more points in nine games, including two with 30, scoring in double figures in every conference contest he's played in except for two. Acliese leads the Big Sky in both overall field goal (163-307, 53.1%) and free throw (68-78, 87.2%) percentage, ranking 52nd and 34th nationally in those categories.
 
STAT SHEET STUFFER: Rylan Bergersen ranks third on the team and 15th in the Big Sky with 13.3 points per game, but there's more to it. He's led the team in assists in 20 games, ranking second in the Big Sky and 83rd in the nation with 4.4 per game. He has 127 assists on the year to rank 61^st across all of Division I, and has three-or-more assists in every game but three, including at least four in 17. He's third in the conference in assist to turnover ratio with 1.98. His single-game high of nine assists came in an overtime win against Montana State. Bergersen can rebound, too, ranking third on the team and 17th in the Big Sky with 4.9 per game. He's pulled down four-or-more rebounds in 21 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 eight. Last but not least, he ranks 72nd in the nation with 112 free throws made and is 68th with 147 attempts.
 
MOVES LIKE GELO: Angelo Allegri has emerged as a steady three-point shooter for Eastern Washington. He knocks down an average of 2.1 triples per game to rank ninth in the Big Sky, and has at least one three-pointer in 26 out of 29 games. Additionally, he's made at least two in 18 games and three-or-more in 10. Against Multnomah on Dec. 15, he made a career-best six. Allegri ranks second on the team with 63 triples total, shooting 35.6 percent from behind the arc and averaging 6.1 attempts per game. He currently averages 11.9 points per game and has scored in double figures 19 times, including a career-best 23 against Multnomah, plus 23 points and 21 points both 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 10 games, including nine out of the last 15. He has grabbed at least seven boards in 10 out of the last 20 games. Allegri ranks ninth 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 46.4 percent from the field to rank sixth in the Big Sky. He leads the league in three-point percentage as well, knocking down 2.7 per game at a clip of 44.8 percent, a mark that ranks third in all of Division I. At the free throw line, he ranks fourth in the conference with a clip of 83.3 percent.
 
Venters has scored in double figures in 23 out of 28 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 22. He has a career-high six against Southern Utah and followed up with five against Omaha, Colorado, Idaho and Idaho State. Nationally, he ranks third in three-point field goal percentage, 71^st in free throw percentage, 65th in three-pointers per game, 63rd in total three's made and 120th with 465 total points. He has only missed three free throws in his last 25 attempts. Venters just passed Eagle Hall of Famer Marc Axton on Eastern's single-season three-pointer list with 74. He needs just two more to crack the top-ten.
 
LAST TIME OUT: The Eagles lost their final road game to Sacramento State by a score of 81-75 in Sacramento, Calif. The game featured 13 lead changes and six ties. Four Eagles scored in double figures, led by Ethan Price with 18 points and Rylan Bergersen with 17 points and eight rebounds.
After a back-and-forth first half, Bergersen hit a buzzer beater three to help EWU lead 37-35 at the half. The Eagles came out and made five of their first six field goal attempts to build their largest lead of 49-42. After Eastern pulled ahead 51-42, the Hornets went on a 9-0 run and kept the Eagles scoreless for five minutes to tie the game 51-51. The run would be 12-2 in all for the Hornets. Eastern Washington had to make a living at the free throw line to stay in the contest down the stretch, as it was held without a field goal for 8:40 of the contest. Linton Acliese III finally snapped the run to retake a 59-58 lead, but the Hornets were right back in it with an 8-0 run for their biggest advantage of 66-59. Sacramento State's run stretched to 12-1, taking a 10-point, 70-60, lead with 3:45 left to play. Down 64-75, the Eagles started to claw back going on 7-0 run to cut the lead down to 75-71 with 45 seconds left to play, but were edged 81-75.
 
A LOOK AT THE LUMBERJACKS: Northern Arizona averages 68.1 points per game and give up an average of 73.2, allowing opponents to shoot 45.1 percent from the field while shooting 42 percent themselves. Like Eastern Washington, the Lumberjacks average 8.8 triples and 37.0 rebounds per game.  
 
Northern Arizona is paced by Jalen Cone who ranks second in the Big Sky with 18.8 points per game, while Carson Towt ranks second in rebounding with 8.8 per contest. Cone averages 3.0 three-pointers per game at a 37.0 clip, he's steady at the free throw line too, shooting 85 percent. Towt and Cone rank seventh and eighth in the Big Sky with 3.9 and 3.8 assists per game, respectively.
 
SERIES HISTORY: Eastern Washington played at Northern Arizona on Jan. 1, where it won 78-65 behind a 30-point, 11-rebound, performance from Linton Acliese III. As a team, Eastern Washington shot 56.4 percent in the victory and held the Lumberjacks to 36.1 percent.
 
The Eagles have won nine-straight against the Lumberjacks, leading the all-time series 40-37. At Reese Court, the Eagles lead 23-12.
 
A LOOK AT THE VIKINGS: Portland State will play at Idaho on Thursday before coming to Cheney. Both EWU and the Vikings have identical conference records, so Saturday's game could come down to a fight for positioning at next week's conference tournament.
 
Since Eastern and the Vikings clashed back on Dec. 31, PSU has been averaging 80.8 points per game and forcing 19.7 turnovers per contest. Khalid Thomas is the reigning Big Sky Player of the Week after scoring 27 points in an overtime win to Idaho State. Thomas is the leading scorer for the Vikings at 11.9 points per game, and is second in the conference with 1.9 steals per game.
 
UP NEXT: Eastern Washington is still awaiting seeding for next week's Big Sky Conference Championships at the Idaho Central Arena in Boise, Idaho. However, the Eagles will for sure be playing in the first round on March 9. Stay tuned to GoEags.com for updates, and for all things Big Sky Championships including the bracket and tickets, click HERE.