PULLMAN, Wash. — The Eastern Washington Eagles earned the second Division I postseason win in program history on Tuesday night in Pullman, Wash., taking down the 4-seeded Washington State Cougars, 81-74 in the opening round of the 2023 National Invitation Tournament (NIT). Big Sky Conference MVP
Steele Venters led the way with 27 points as EWU snapped a three-game losing skid to advance.
It was a back-and-forth affair out of the gates, with the lead changing sides 12 times in the first 14 minutes. Eastern utilized several backdoor cuts to find easy buckets down low, leading points in the paint 12-4 through 10:00 and 18-8 in the first half overall.
"Our guys didn't try to force it inside but did it through the rhythm of the game," noted EWU head coach David Riley.
Down 27-26 with 8:53 left, guard Tyreese Davis kicked off a 13-2 run over the next four minutes that put the Eagles ahead for the remainder of the opening frame. Venters converted a 4-point play at 6:00 on the clock before Ethan Price scored on a putback layup and followed with a pair of free throws to make it 36-27 EWU.
WSU's DJ Rodman, who led all scorers with 13 in the first, stopped the Eastern run but Venters responded with the last bucket prior to halftime, draining his second 3 of the night from the left wing to put EWU up by 9, 43-34.
The Cougars came out from the break on fire, sinking 7-of-9 3-pointers to spark a furious 21-8 run and take a 60-51 lead with 11:31 left in regulation, but the Eagles refused to fold.
"It's a game of runs," added Riley. "We knew playing WSU… that is something they do. We just had to get back to our identity on defense (to stop it)."
Two converted and-1's from Venters and Price, a clutch 3 from senior Angelo Allegri and a spinning layup by transfer swingman Cedric Coward drove an 11-3 response for Eastern to regain the lead at 64-63. It was a dogfight the rest of the way, with both teams exchanging scores to a 74-74 tie with a minute to go.
The game-winner came with 16 seconds remaining as Allegri drove the lane before slinging a baseline pass to Venters in the left corner. The Ellensburg native buried it — his fourth 3 — to put the Eagles up for good.
The win avenged a 82-56 loss against the same WSU squad back on Nov. 21 at Spokane Arena. The Cougars shot the lights out in that game, including 15-for-30 from beyond the arc. It also snapped a three-game losing skid that included a quarterfinal loss in the Big Sky Championship in Boise.
"We just took a couple days off and recouped our mindset," Venters said. "That was big for us, getting back in the mindset of playing together and outworking the other team. Anytime you can play postseason basketball is amazing. Not a lot of teams get to do it."
Venters' 27 points is tied for the 3rd-most by an Eagle in an NCAA postseason game, behind Tanner Groves' 35 versus Kansas in the 2021 NCAA Tournament and Bogdan Bliznyuk's 29 versus Wyoming in the 2017 College Basketball Invitational. Bliznyuk also scored 27 in the CBI (versus Utah Valley State) and Tyler Harvey matched in the 2015 NCAA Tournament against Georgetown.
The only previous Eagle Division I postseason win came in the 2016 CBI, 79-72 over Pepperdine. They lost in the only other NIT appearance, back in 2003 versus Wyoming; in EWU's first postseason appearance as a D-I program.
Eastern finished with a 36-16 advantage in points in the paint and 16 assists on 26 made baskets. They shot 48% (29-60) from the field (39%; 9-29 from 3PT).
The Eagles will next play on March 18 or 19 against the winner of Wednesday's matchup between 1-seed Oklahoma State and Youngstown State. Further game details are to be determined.
