The historical run for Eastern Washington men's basketball continues after defeating Weber State, 75-71, on Saturday (Jan. 28) afternoon. The Eagles won their 12th consecutive game for the longest winning streak in Division I program history. Eastern also extended its Reese Court winning streak to 14 games, a DI program record. With the win, Eastern is now a perfect 10-0 in the Big Sky and 16-7 overall this season. Weber St. falls to 6-3 in conference and 11-11 overall.

"We did a pretty good job on [Dillon Jones]. He has games with big assist numbers and gets other guys going. Our wings did a good job guarding him and keeping him out of the paint," head coach David Riley said. "Our guys find a way to win in everything they do. That's what happened today. When we got cold, we found a way to get stops. When they got hot, we found a way to get easy looks. We have all these guys who can step up and that's the beauty of this team. I think this game is a good reminder to us how important every possession is when the score is close."

Angelo Allegri was lights-out from the floor today, scoring a career-high 28 points on 10-of-12(83.3%) shooting and 6-of-8(75.0%) from three-point range. Steele Venters added 13 points in the game.

"I think we just have to focus on us. We have to stay focused in practice and try to get better every day," Venters said. "We will be able to handle adversity down the stretch because of how we practice. Angelo was just finding his shots. I think we were able to get him in the right actions for him to score."

Points were difficult to find early for both teams, as Eastern led 3-2 at the first media timeout with 15:53 on the clock. Following the timeout, the teams found some rhythm. Tyreese Davis and Angelo Allegri went inside to give the Eagles a 6-4 lead. Steele Venters then stepped in with five points to extend the lead to 11-6. Weber St. was not going away and continued to match Eastern score-for-score. Allegri was not shy about shooting, connecting again from deep for a 17-11 Eagle lead.

The Wildcats would go trim away at the lead, cutting it down to 19-21 with 7:53 left in the half. Eastern extended the lead to 29-21 behind another three from Allegri. Weber St. was sticking around and cut the lead down to 29-24 at the 4:07 mark. The teams tightened up the defense in the final four minutes. They both hit a three in the final 10 seconds, with Venters accounting for Eastern's score. The Eagles led 32-27 at halftime and were shooting 54.2 percent. Weber St. was 41.7 percent from the floor.

Beginning the second half, the Wildcats would take the lead, using a 9-0 run to jump ahead. Cedric Coward would score four–straight points to tie the game at 36 at the 14:40 mark of the second half. Allegri kept his hot-hand and scored a second-chance layup to take the lead. Following Allegri's lead, Dane Erikstrup drained two three-pointers to push back against Weber St.'s scoring. The Wildcats continued to score and Eastern could not separate fully from them. Davis would take advantage of a Weber St. turnover to streak down the court and hit a floating jump shot. Eastern led 50-46 with 8:27 left in the game.

The Wildcats trimmed the lead down to one, but Allegri came up clutch again with a three. With 2:57 on the clock, Ethan Price drove into the paint for a tough layup and extended Eastern's lead to 64-60. Not to be deterred, Weber St. again reduced the lead to 67-65. Venters was fouled on a three-point attempt, and he made all three free throws to give the Eagles a 70-65 lead. Following another Wildcat three, Allegri would come up clutch one more time with corner three for the five-point lead and 25 seconds left in the game. Eastern won 75-71, shooting 50.5 percent in the half. Weber State did shoot well with a 55.6 percent average.

Overall, the Eagles were 51.9 percent shooting from the floor, while Weber St. posted a 49.0 percent mark.

Key Statistics
Eastern's overall 12 game win streak surpasses the 11-game win streak the team had during the 2003-04 season. The Eagles advanced to the NCAA Tournament that season after winning the Big Sky Tournament.

Angelo Allegri surpassed his career-high by one point after scoring 27 points against Portland State last season (3/5/22). Allegri now has two 20-point games this season and six for his career.

Cedric Coward recorded his second double-double this season with 11 points and 11 rebounds. The game is Coward's third double-digit rebounding game this season.

Eastern won the rebounding battle 36 to 22. The Eagles grabbed nine offensive rebounds and scored 17 points in those second chance opportunities. The Eagles also had a 28-to-26 point advantage in the paint.

Steele Venters has now scored in double-digits in 18 of the team's 23 games.

Tyreese Davis matched his season-high with eight rebounds. The redshirt-junior added six points in the game.

Ethan Price recorded two blocks and he now has 22 total on the season.

Up Next
Eastern Washington will begin a three-game road trip next week, starting with Sacramento State on Thursday, Feb. 2 at 7 p.m. Pacific Time. The Eagles then travel to play Portland State on Saturday, Feb. 4 at 7 p.m.