Make it five wins in a row for Eastern Washington men's basketball as they defeated Portland State 92-80 on Thursday night (Jan. 5). Eastern trailed midway through the second half but turned on its shooting to rally the team to victory. The Eagles improved to 3-0 in the Big Sky and 9-7 overall this season. The Vikings fall to 0-2 in the Big Sky and 6-9 on the year.
Steele Venters led all scorers with 25 points on 8-of-18(44.4%) shooting.
Angelo Allegri also had a 20-point game, finishing with 21 on 7-of-8(87.5%) shooting and pulling down eight rebounds.
"I think we came out with an edge and were focused. We let that get away from us a little bit. If you're not totally dialed on offense or defense, [Portland State] is going to take advantage. They can make tough shots," head coach
David Riley said. "I think we handled their pressure well for stretches. Our guys do a good job making up for it with easy shots at the rim or finding open threes. It comes down to us not turning the ball over. When the ball has energy and we make the right pass, we know the shots are going in. The last three or four games, we've had a timeout with seven-or-eight minutes left. I've looked at the guys faces on the bench and their focus just rises. They're doing a great job of bringing each other's energy level up."
Tyreese Davis posted a career-high at Eastern with 15 points, adding eight rebounds and six assists.
"[Portland State] let us know it was going to be a fight. The biggest lesson for us was to just stay composed," Davis explained. "We had our run, and they had our run. At the end of the day, we had the last run. I think that's the most important thing; to play a full 40 minutes. We share the ball well as a team and early on, this season, we were just not making shots."
Eastern started the game well, building out a 9-2 lead with four different Eagles scoring points. The strong start continued for the Eagles as they pushed the lead out to 20-6, with
Angelo Allegri and
Steele Venters knocking down their three-point shots.
Deon Stroud dropped in five straight points for the Eagles and extend the lead to 25-10 with 10:59 left in the half. A 6-0 run from the Vikings brought the score to 28-18 with 7:54 on the clock. The three-point shooting was on for the Eagles as Stroud, Venters and Allegri continued to score from long range. Off a triple from Allegri, Eastern led 39-26 at the 4:39 mark. Portland St. fought back with a 9-0 run to cut the lead to 39-35 at 1:51. At the half, the Eagles led 43-39 after shooting 55.6 percent from the floor and 9-of-18(50%) from three-point range. The Vikings shot 40 percent from the floor and 3-of-13(23.1%) from three.
The teams were trading points to begin the second half, as Allegri continued to shoot well, and
Tyreese Davis got inside for a high-percentage shot. The Eagles were up 49-46 at the 16:44 points of the half. Portland St. would then organize a 9-0 run to jump ahead 58-54 over the Eagles. A jumper from Stroud would tie the game up at 60 and 11:00 left in the game. The Vikings extended their lead on a made three at 66-61. Eastern would cut down the lead as Venters continued to make his jumpers. Davis would then connect from three to bring the lead down to 70-69 with 6:30 left in the game.
Cedric Coward would then give the Eagles the lead with two free throws.
Ethan Price found space behind the arc and extended the Eastern advantage to 76-72. Down the stretch, Davis was clutch with his free throws to protect the Eastern lead. The Eagles won the game 92-80 and shot a staggering, 62.5 percent in the second half, while Portland St. finished with a 44.1 percent.
Eastern shot 58.8 percent overall for the game and the Vikings finished with a 41.9 percent.
Key Statistics
Eastern made a season-high 16 three-pointers and had the second-best three-point percentage (51.6%). The top shooting performances came against UC Davis (55.6%). The team also had its second-highest shooting percentage in a game, behind only the win over Northwest Indian College (63.0%).
Steele Venters recorded his 15
th, 20-point game and fourth this season. He has scored in double figures in 11 of the team's 16 games.
Angelo Allegri notched his fifth career 20-point game and had a season-best in points. Allegri matched his career-high with six made three-pointers and it was his fourth career game with five or more made threes.
Deon Stroud had his best game as an Eagle, finishing with 12 points. It was his fourth game scoring in double digits this season.
The Eagles had 19 assists on 30 made field goals.
Ethan Price recorded two blocks, giving him 17 on the season.
Eastern won the rebounding battle, 37 to 33.
The Eagles had 20 turnovers that allowed Portland State to score 31 points.
Up Next
Eastern Washington will host Sacramento State on Saturday, Jan. 7 at 2 p.m.
