Eastern Washington controls second half in 79-68 win over UC Davis

In the days leading up to Saturday’s home game against UC Davis, Eastern Washington prepared in practice to face pressure defense from the Aggies.

What EWU head coach David Riley saw in those practices was much the same as what he saw from the Eagles in the first half.

“We shot a high percentage,” Riley said, “but had way too many turnovers.”

But for the most part, the turnovers were a first-half issue – and the hot shooting ran all game.

Eastern made 10 of 18 3-pointers and overcame a season-high 20 turnovers – largely by forcing 19 by UC Davis – in a 79-68 victory at Reese Court in the Eagles’ penultimate nonconference game of the season.

Six Eagles players hit at least one 3-pointer, led by a 3-for-5 effort by senior Angelo Allegri. He was one of four Eagles to score in double figures with 13 points.

EWU junior Tyreese Davis added 10 points, sophomore Ethan Price had 13 and sophomore Cedric Coward finished with a team-high 15, capped by a transition dunk and a pair of free throws in the final minute.

“We took great ones for the most part,” Riley said of the team’s outside shots. “They were all inside out, and they were wide-open looks.

“When we take those kinds of shots with the shooters we have, those are the numbers we expect.”

Perhaps most encouraging for the Eagles is that the team shot as well as it did on an off night from leading scorer Steele Venters.

The sophomore finished with seven points on 3-of-7 shooting – with one 3-pointer – and sat most of the game’s final 5 minutes with four fouls.

The Eagles (5-7) fell behind early as the Aggies (7-4) capitalized on some early turnovers.

Five minutes into the game, Eastern had committed five turnovers and trailed 10-4.

The Aggies pushed their lead to as many as eight in the first half, but the Eagles rallied with a 10-2 run to tie the game at 32. At halftime, UC Davis led 39-37 and Eastern had 13 turnovers.

Early in the second half, a pair of free throws by sophomore Ty Johnson – who finished 8 of 8 at the line but came into the game having made just 47 of 77 – gave UC Davis a 51-48 lead with 11:46 to play.

But that lead would be the Aggies’ last.

Soon after, Price drained a 3 from the corner on a baseline inbound pass, tying the game at 51.

One minute later, Coward hit a corner 3 to give the Eagles their first lead since a 4-2 advantage, and Allegri added a 3 from the wing the next time down.

That prompted UC Davis to take a timeout, but Eastern wasn’t done. Sophomore Ty Harper hit a 3 to cap the 12-0 run and give the Eagles a 60-51 lead with 8:45 to go. The Aggies never got any closer than five points.

The exclamation point came with 2:13 left, when Allegri found Casey Jones for an alley-oop that gave Eastern a 73-60 lead, its largest of the game.

“Once I beat (Elijah) Pepper and I was getting downhill, the (forward) helped, and I saw Casey on the backside cutting,” Allegri said. “I just put it up there, and I knew he was going to go get it no matter where I put it.”

The junior Pepper – a Selah (Washington) High graduate – scored a game-high 25 points for the Aggies, who made 21 of 25 free throws as a team but just 3 of 20 3-point attempts. They shot 37.3% overall.

Eastern had 16 assists, led by Allegri’s five, and also had six blocks. Price had four blocks, setting a single-game career high. He leads the team with 12 this season.

The Eagles host Northwest Indian College at 3:30 p.m. Tuesday to wrap up their nonconference schedule. They visit Montana on Dec. 29 to open Big Sky play .