OGDEN, Utah — The Eastern Washington University Eagles made history on Thursday night in Ogden, Utah, becoming the first ever Big Sky Conference team to reach 16-0 in conference play, securing an outright claim to the regular season title and extending their NCAA Division I-leading winning streak to 18 games. Forward
Casey Jones led the way with a career-high 25 points.
"To have guys be that unselfish, to let the next man be up and (let) whoever's got the hot hand or better mismatch take advantage… hats off to our team," said head coach David Riley after the win. "(Weber State) had a clear game plan to make someone else beat them and (tonight) it was Casey."
Jones is the seventh Eagle to score 20 or more points this season and sixth to do so during conference play. His previous career-best was 15 against South Dakota State back on Dec. 10.
It was a back-and-forth affair between two explosive offensive clubs in the first half, going into the break at 43-41 WSU. Each team shot over 50% from both the floor and 3-point range, missing just 26 of 59 combined attempts. The Wildcats kept threatening to pull away but never led by more than 6.
"It was one of the best offensive halves I've ever been part of for both sides," continued Riley. "Our guys found a way to buckle down in the second half."
Star WSU forward Dillon Jones converted the first make of the second but the Eagles took control from there, reeling off a 12-0 run — starting with a 3 by Jones — over the next three minutes of play to take a 53-45 lead.
The Wildcats continued to push, twice having gains immediately erased by 3s from EWU guard Steele Venters, including a rainbow from the right wing at the 10-minute mark to reclaim an 8-point advantage. Venters finished with 18, marking the 9th time he has scored 18+ this season.
A pair of free throws from Jones and an and-1 from Ethan Price with 4:18 left put EWU up by 10. Senior Angelo Allegri, who had a 22-11 double-double last Saturday against Northern Colorado, hit a 3 from the left wing with just under a minute remaining that proved to be the dagger.
As Riley alluded, the Eagle defense made critical adjustments down the stretch, holding WSU to 37% shooting in the final 20 minutes, including 0-for-10 from beyond the arc.
"Our defense has taken big strides these last three weeks," Riley added. "We're starting to stay in front of the ball better, to play together more. That is what our identity is overall as a team, that we play together."
That cohesive identity has proven fruitful this season as the Eagles, now 22-7 overall, knocked off Weber State for the best start in conference play history and first to reach 16-0 — the 1968-69 WSU squad went 15-0. EWU also tied the Wildcats' 1979-80 team for the longest overall win streak in Big Sky history at 18.
They'll have a chance to break that record on Saturday when they travel to Idaho State to face the Bengals (10-19; 7-9) in Pocatello at 6 p.m. MT / 5 p.m. PT. They'll host second-place Montana State at Reese Court on Monday to close out the regular season.
Get Tickets
Tickets for Monday, Feb. 27 against Montana State and all EWU Athletics competitions are available at goeags.com/tickets.
