CHENEY, Wash. — Eastern Washington University men's basketball hosts the Northern Arizona Lumberjacks and Northern Colorado Bears this week at Reese Court in Cheney, hoping to extend their NCAA Division I-leading winning streak, currently at 13 games. Like every conference opponent so far, the Eagles came away with wins in the first head-to-head matchup with both programs back in January.
Game Details
Thursday, February 16 (6 p.m.)
Tickets
Tickets for both games this week and all EWU Athletics events are available at
goeags.com/tickets.
Game Previews
Eastern (19-7; 13-0 Big Sky) hosts NAU (7-20; 3-11) on Thursday evening, hoping to replicate
their 79-76 win in Flagstaff on Jan. 21. Reserve forward
Dane Erikstrup stole the show for the Eagles, scoring 20 points and adding 7 rebounds off the bench, including 15 points in the second half. It was a back-and-forth affair that saw 13 lead changes as NAU was buoyed by guards Jalen Cone (25 points) and Xavier Fuller (23). Cone ranks 5th in the Big Sky in scoring.
Steele Venters added 15 and
Angelo Allegri 14 for the Eagles, who got 30 total points from the bench to make the difference. NAU is likely a better team than their record indicates as they have lost 11 games this season by 5 or fewer points, including four by just 1 point and two in overtime.
On Saturday, the Eagles welcome the Northern Colorado Bears (10-16; 5-9) to Cheney, again looking to repeat their last meeting,
an 83-76 win in Greeley on Jan. 19.
Ethan Price scored a career-high 23, shooting 9-11 from the field and 2-3 from 3-point range. Venters added 15 and
Tyreese Davis had 12 (plus 6 assists) for the Eagles. Points in the paint were critical as EWU scored 50 — while shooting 60% — and held UNC to just 30. The Bears enter the week red-hot, winning three in a row, including a dominant 88-54 victory over 3rd-place Weber State on Feb. 6.
Last Time Out
EWU pushed their win streak to 13 games with a
thrilling 73-66 win over Idaho in Moscow last Saturday. Despite an uncharacteristic shooting performance by the Eagles both from the field (39%; 23-59) and at the free throw line (61.3%; 19-31), they found a way to get defensive stops and hit critical shots down the stretch.
Tyreese Davis earned his 5th career double-double (1st as an Eagle) and
Ethan Price scored 16 to lead the way.
Steele Venters scored his 1,000th career point with a key 3 late in the second half.
Seeking Rare Company
Already with the nation's longest active winning streak (D-I), this EWU team is on the brink of joining a rare group of Big Sky Conference performances. Wins on Thursday and Saturday would put the team at 15-0 in conference play, matching the best mark in conference history, set by Weber State in 1968-69. Multiple teams have gone 14-0, most recently Montana in 2012-13.
The Big Sky record for overall winning streak is 18 games, also set by Weber State, in 1979-80.
Wins on Thursday and Saturday would guarantee the Eagles a share of the Big Sky regular season title. Second-place Montana State is 11-3 in conference play headed into the weekend; they are off Thursday before hosting rival Montana on Saturday. EWU has earned the Big Sky regular season title three times* previously, most recently in 2019-20.
(*Eastern shared the title with Montana in 2014-15 but lost the regular season tiebreaker for conference tournament seeding. The Eagles went on to win the Big Sky Tournament that season.)
1,000 Club
Sophomore guard
Steele Venters scored his 1,000th career point on Feb. 11 at Idaho, becoming the 24th player to reach the milestone entirely with EWU.
Tyreese Davis achieved the mark earlier this season. The redshirt junior transfer from Jacksonville University has 255 points (10.6 average) in his first year at Eastern.
