EWU GAME NOTES
BRACKET AND TOURNAMENT INFO

It's officially time for the reigning Big Sky Conference Tournament Champions to defend their title.
 
The Eastern Washington University men's basketball team will face off against Northern Arizona on Wednesday, March 9, in the First Round. Tip-off is set for 1:30 p.m. Pacific time from Boise, Idaho, at the Idaho Central Arena. The Eagles are the No. 6 seed while the Lumberjacks are No. 11, and the winner will go on to face No. 3 Northern Colorado in the quarterfinals on Thursday, March 10, at 7 p.m. PT.
 
All games will be broadcast on ESPN+ with the championship to air on ESPNU. Eastern's game will also be on 700-AM ESPN with Larry Weir on the call. The bracket and tournament information can be found HERE.
 
TOURNAMENT HISTORY WITH NAU: This will be the fifth meeting between the two foes in the postseason and the second-straight, with Eastern owning a 4-1 record. Eastern ended NAU's season in last year's quarterfinals by a score of 66-60. Prior to that, the last time the two teams met in the tournament was in 2016 in the First Round in Reno, Nev., where EWU was the No. 6 seed and NAU earned the No. 11 seed. Eastern won, 74-52.
 
Eastern Washington just hosted Northern Arizona at Reese Court on Thursday, March 3, where they came away with a 69-62 victory. The Eagles also defeated NAU on Jan. 1 in Flagstaff, winning 78-65. Eastern has a 10-game winning streak over the Lumberjacks.

2021 – Quarterfinals (Boise, Idaho) #2 seed vs. No. 10 Northern Arizona – W, 66-60
2016 -- First Round (Reno, Nevada) #6 seed vs. #11 Northern Arizona - W, 74-52
2004 - Championship (Cheney, Wash.) - #1 seed vs. #2 Northern Ariz. - W, 71-59
2001 - Semifinals (Northridge, Calif.) - #2 seed vs. #5 Northern Arizona - W, 58-53
2000 - Semifinals (Missoula, Mont.) - #2 seed vs. #3 Northern Arizona - L, 65-82
 
BIG SKY TOURNAMENT HISTORY: Eastern is making its 19th Big Sky Conference Tournament appearance in 33 years as a member of the league, and has a record of 20-15 in its 35 games. The Eagles are 1-0 in the first round, 7-5 in the quarterfinals, 9-4 in the semifinals and 3-6 in the championship.
 
Eastern won Big Sky Conference Tournament championships and appeared in the NCAA Tournament in 2021, 2015 & 2004. The Eagles have also advanced to the National Invitation Tournament in 2003 and the College Basketball Invitational in 2016 and 2017.
 
The Eagles rolled through the 2021 Big Sky Conference Tournament with a trio of victories, leading for a total of 108:19 out of 120 minutes (trailed for 8:25 and tied for 3:16). EWU led by as many as 12, 38 and 20 in the three wins, respectively, topping Northern Arizona, Montana and Montana State in the championship game.
 
ALL-BIG SKY HONORS: Eastern Washington University men's basketball player Ethan Price is the Big Sky Conference Freshman of the Year, as announced by the league this morning (March 8). Joining Price on the ballot is Linton Acliese III and Steele Venters, who each earned a spot on the second team.
 
Price is Eastern Washington's seventh BSC Freshman of the Year honoree, and the first since Bogdan Bliznyuk in 2015. Price joins the likes of Marc Axton (2002), Matt Nelson (2004), Rodney Stuckey (2006), Glen Dean (2010) and Venky Jois (2013). Eastern Washington swept the Freshman of the Year awards, as Jaydia Martin brought home the honor on the women's side.
 
The Bury St. Edmunds, England, native started all 31 regular season games for the Eagles, scoring in double figures 20 times with two double-doubles. This season, Price averaged 10.1 points, 4.7 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game. Price shot 48 percent from the field this season and 43.2 percent from three-point range, draining 32 triples.
 
Venters earns the first All-Big Sky honor of his career, emerging as one of the conference's sharpest shooters. He ranked in the top-ten all season long in scoring, with a current average of 16.4 points per game. The three-point shot is his specialty, ranking in the top-five nationally in three-point percentage, making 43.5 percent of his shots and averaging 2.8 per game.
 
Acliese joined the Eagles this season after transferring in from San Francisco State and had a stellar year for the Eagles. He earned Big Sky Conference player of the week twice, and scored in double figures 24 times including 10 games with over 20 points. He's scored in double digits in 17 out of the last 19 games, reaching the feat in every Big Sky game except two.
 
A LOOK AT THE EAGLES: Eastern Washington concluded the regular season 17-14 overall and 11-9 in Big Sky Conference games, finishing with at least 10 conference wins for the eighth-straight season. The Eagles come in to the postseason on a two-game winning streak after beating Northern Arizona and Portland State at home last week.
 
The Eagles average 77.2 points per game, the third-highest offensive output in the conference. They lead the conference and rank 24th in the nation with 16.0 assists per game, totaling 496 to rank 22^nd. Eastern Washington pulls down 36.87 rebounds per game to rank second in the conference and 89th nationally, with 1,143 total boards to rank 79th. Eastern has out-rebounded its opponents in 18 games this year. They average 27.8 defensive boards per game which is 23rd in the nation and first in the Big Sky.
 
EWU is also one of the nation's top three-point shooting teams, firing off 279 total this year to rank 36th in the NCAA. Eastern also has a stifling three-point defense, only allowing opponents to shoot 32.5 percent behind the arc to rank second in the conference. Eastern Washington ranks 36th in the NCAA and second in the Big Sky with 9.0 three-pointers per game. The squad has made double-digit triples in eight out of the last 16 games, with season highs of 14 against Idaho and 13 against Idaho State.
 
The Eagles are also solid at the free throw line, ranking 61st nationally with 457 free throws made and 61st with 609 attempts. EWU makes 75.0 percent of its attempts to rank 61st 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-19 in the Big Sky. Steele Venters (6th, 16.5 ppg) leads the way, followed by Linton Acliese III (7th, 16.0 ppg) and Rylan Bergersen (15th, 13.1 ppg). Angelo Allegri rounds out the offense with 12.3 points per game to rank 19th and Ethan Price adds 10.1. Four Eagles also rank in the top-21 in the conference in rebounding in Acliese (6th, 7.3 rpg), Allegri (9th, 6.6 rpg), Bergersen (19th, 4.9 rpg), and Ethan Price (23rd, 4.7).
 
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 (16.0) per game and sixth in rebounds (7.3) per game. He's scored in double figures in 24 out of the 28 games he has played in, including 17 out of the last 19, to go with six double-doubles. He has scored in 20-or-more points in 10 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 field goal percentage (178-344, 53.3%), ranking 51^st nationally. At the free throw line, he is 69-for-80, shooting 86.3 percent.
 
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 22 games, ranking second in the Big Sky and 76th in the nation with 4.4 per game. He has 137 assists on the year to rank 55th across all of Division I, and has three-or-more assists in every game but three, including at least four in 19. He's second in the conference in assist to turnover ratio with 2.04. 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 19th in the Big Sky with 4.9 per game. He's pulled down four-or-more rebounds in 23 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 nine. Last but not least, he ranks 79th in the nation with 117 free throws made and is 64th with 157 attempts.
 
MOVES LIKE GELO: Angelo Allegri has emerged as a steady three-point shooter for Eastern Washington. He knocks down an average of 2.3 triples per game to rank ninth in the Big Sky, and has at least one three-pointer in 28 out of 31 games. Additionally, he's made at least two in 20 games and three-or-more in 12. Against Multnomah on Dec. 15 and Portland State on March 5, he made a career-best six. Allegri ranks second on the team with 72 triples total, shooting 37.1 percent from behind the arc and averaging 6.3 attempts per game. He currently averages 12.3 points per game and has scored in double figures 20 times, including a career-best 27 against Portland State, 23 against Multnomah, plus 23 points and 21 points both against Idaho. He is currently 12^th on Eastern's single-season three-point list, needing just four more to crack the top-ten.
 
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. His fourth double-double of the season came against Portland State where he scored 27 points and added 13 rebounds. He has led the team in rebounding in 11 games, including 10 out of the last 17. He has grabbed at least seven boards in 11 out of the last 22 games. Allegri ranks ninth in the Big Sky with 6.6 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 16.4 points per game. Not only does Venters like to shoot, he does it well, knocking down 45.4 percent from the field to rank sixth in the Big Sky. He leads the league in three-point percentage as well, knocking down 2.6 per game at a clip of 43.5 percent, a mark that ranks seventh in all of Division I. At the free throw line, he ranks fourth in the conference with a clip of 83.5 percent, which is the 83^rd best in the nation.
 
Venters has scored in double figures in 24 out of 30 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 two, including two or more in 23. He has a career-high six against Southern Utah and followed up with five against Omaha, Colorado, Idaho and Idaho State. Nationally, he ranks seventh in three-point field goal percentage, 79th in free throw percentage, 81st in three-pointers per game, 70th in total three's made and 126th with 491 total points. Venters is eighth on Eastern's single-season three-pointer list with 77.