CHENEY, Wash. – Still undefeated in conference play and riding a 10-game winning streak, the Eastern Washington University men's basketball team will host the Idaho State Bengals (Thursday; 6 p.m.) and Weber State Wildcats (Saturday; 2 p.m.) this week at Reese Court in Cheney. Sophomore
Steele Venters needs 68 more points to reach 1,000 in his career while transfer
Tyreese Davis is just 8 away.
Game Details
Thursday, January 26 (6 p.m.)
This Week
Eastern welcomes Idaho State (7-3 overall; 4-3 conference; 2-8 away) on Thursday evening, looking to repeat last year's season sweep (89-63 at ISU on Jan. 24, 2022 and 75-72 in Cheney on Feb. 12, 2022). EWU is 49-30 all-time against the Bengals in NCAA Division I (32-9 at home), with wins in three-straight.
On Saturday it will be the Weber State Wildcats (10-10 overall; 5-2 conference; 3-6 away) at Reese Court. The two teams split last season, with each winning at home (EWU winning 75-67 in Cheney on Feb. 10, 2022). Weber State holds the edge all-time (28-49 Div. I) but the teams have historically been even in Cheney (18-18).
Both games will be a battle of contrasting styles, as Idaho State (68.7; 8th) and Weber State (66.2; 10th) rank near the bottom of the conference in scoring but in the upper half in defensive scoring (Idaho State 5th, 69.7; Weber State 2nd, 66.6). The Eagles rank 3rd (75.7) and 6th (70.6), respectively.
Last Time Out
The Eagles won back-to-back road games last week, beating Northern Colorado 83-75 on Jan. 19 and Northern Arizona 79-76 on Jan. 21. Sophomore
Ethan Price had a career night on Thursday against UNC, scoring 23 points on 9-of-11 (81.8%) shooing and 3-of-5 (60%) from 3-point range. He added 3 rebounds and 1 block — Price ranks second in the Big Sky with 20 blocks.
On Saturday, with Price in foul trouble early, fellow sophomore
Dane Erikstrup came off the bench to make a huge impact, scoring 20 points and 7 rebounds to lead EWU over NAU in a nailbiter finish. Fifteen of Erikstrup's points came in the second half during a game that saw 13 lead changes overall.
Chasing 1,000
Venters, a redshirt sophomore from Ellensburg, Wash., enters the week with 932 points, just 68 shy of becoming the 24
th player in EWU history to reach the 1,000 club as an Eagle. Venters ranks 9
th in the Big Sky Conference in scoring at 15.3 per game, 7
th in FG% (.470) and 6
th in 3-pointers per game (2.1). He piled up 33 points against North Dakota State back on December 3 and has posted 10+ points in nine-straight, including back-to-back 15-point efforts last week as the Eagles won at Northern Colorado and Northern Arizona. He has been automatic from the free throw line, downing 95.45% (42/44) without a miss since Nov. 14 vs. Mississippi Valley State (in Honolulu, Hi.). Venters led the Eagles in scoring last season, scoring 550 (16.7 average) to rank 5
th in the Big Sky, earning second-team all-conference honors.
Redshirt junior
Tyreese Davis, who is in his first season with Eastern after three at Jacksonville, is just 8 points out from 1,000. He has double-digit points in all but six games this season, averaging 10 points, 3.4 rebounds and 3.4 assists. The Kansas City, Mo. product has scored over 10 points in 5 of his last 6 games. After being named to the all-freshman team in the ASUN conference in 2018-19, Davis missed the 2019-20 season with a knee injury before returning to Jacksonville for two more years.
Tickets
Tickets for both games this week and all EWU basketball games are available at
goeags.com/tickets or by phone at 509-359-6059.
