STILLWATER, Okla. — The Eastern Washington Eagles fought to the bitter end but came up short against the Oklahoma State Cowboys in the second round of the 2023 National Invitation Tournament, losing 71-60 at historic Gallagher-Iba Arena in Stillwater, Okla. on Sunday afternoon.
"Our guys played their hearts out," said EWU head coach David Riley. "Hats off to (OSU). That's a great team. Offensively, we didn't make shots and Oklahoma State has a lot to do with that."
Despite the Cowboys leading for 15 of the first 20 minutes, it was largely a back-and-forth first half, with neither team leading by more than 6 until the final seconds.
Senior Angelo Allegri buoyed the Eagles against one of the top defenses in the country, scoring 13 on 5-9 shooting (3-4 3PT) in the opening frame. Playing in his final NCAA game as Eastern's lone departing senior, the Kansas City product finished with 17 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists.
The Eagles were within two until three-straight triples by the Cowboys, including one as time expired, put OSU up 39-30 at half. The "Pokes" shot a sizzling 15-for-30 from the field in the first, including 6-for-11 from beyond the arc.
OSU poured on more of the same in the second, pushing their margin to 15 and putting the Eagles on the ropes. Eastern proved resilient, however, fighting back within 6, but couldn't find enough of the net down the stretch to close the gap. Bryce Thompson led the Cowboys with 22 points on 8-of-16 FG (6-11 3PT).
Eastern also received 14 from sophomore transfer Dane Erikstrup — his most since Jan. 21 at NAU (20) — and 10 from sophomore Casey Jones. The team shot 38.6% from the field (22-57) and 9-31 from 3-point range (29%).
"The talk in the locker room after the game was very, very brief about this game in particular. We played a good team and lost," Riley continued. "But what these guys have done throughout the season, I can't tell them enough how much our coaching staff appreciates them."
The defeat ended a spectacular EWU season that saw a Big Sky Conference record 16-0 start to conference play and a record-tying 18-game winning streak that was, at one point, the longest in all of Division I men's basketball. Both are new program marks, set after the team started 4-7 in non-conference play.
The Eagles earned a bid to the NIT as the regular season champions out of the Big Sky — the 5th regular season title in program history — and their win at Washington State on March 14 was just the second postseason win of any kind in Eagle history; the first in the NIT and first on the road. That win, plus a Dec. 7 win over Cal, represented the first time EWU has won twice in the same season against opponents from "Power 5" conferences (ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12, SEC).
EWU finished with a 23-11 record, reaching 20+ wins for the fifth time as a D-I program. Four were recognized with Big Sky accolades, including Steele Venters as MVP and First Team All-Conference, Allegri as First Team, Ethan Price as an Honorable Mention and Riley as Coach of the Year.
"For these guys, and this program to come as far as we've come… we've built a really strong foundation, we're right here as a program to be reckoned with," Riley told radio voice Larry Weir.
"Tradition doesn't graduate."
