Steele Venters’ go-ahead 3-pointer lifts Eastern Washington past Sacramento State in final seconds

After doing so much right for so much of the game, Eastern Washington again found itself in a close contest during the late stages Saturday against Sacramento State.

But once again, Steele Venters remained unfazed.

Following a timeout with 9.3 seconds left, Venters inbounded from midcourt to Angelo Allegri, who drove and then kicked the ball back to Venters at the wing. The sophomore hit a tiebreaking 3-pointer that gave the Eagles a 78-75 victory at Reese Court in Cheney.

It was “pretty much exactly” how they drew it up, Venters said. After Zach Chappell’s halfcourt heave found only the front of the rim at the buzzer, the Eagles had their sixth straight win and a 4-0 start to Big Sky play.

“Coach (David Riley) drew it up with ‘Gelo’ coming off a pick and roll, getting downhill,” Venters said. “He’s a great playmaker, so we wanted the ball in his hands, and I was there for the follow.”

Venters finished with 25 points for the second consecutive game, eight shy of his season high. He hit 5 of 7 3-pointers to spearhead a long-range barrage that sparked the Eagles to another hot start and double-digit lead – and he also bailed them out after the team frittered away its entire advantage.

Allegri had eight points and a team-high six assists, including that final one to Venters.

In a win last week at Montana State, Venters made a similar 3 in a similar situation, breaking what was a 65-all tie in the final minute of Eastern’s 70-67 win in Bozeman.

Two nights ago, in Eastern’s 92-80 win over Portland State, Venters hit a pair of fadeaways late to stave off the Vikings’ comeback.

Neither performance was as dramatic as this one .

For 30 minutes, it didn’t appear plausible that the Eagles would need such a winning shot. Ten minutes into the game, Eastern was up by 17 points. At half, the Eagles led by 21.

Even midway through the second half, the Eagles still led by 17.

“We’re a super physical and tough team,” Venters said. “I just feel like sometimes we let up when we’re not supposed to.”

Sacramento State’s comeback was similar to the one mounted by Portland State Thursday in Cheney. But unlike the Vikings, the Hornets (9-7, 2-1 Big Sky) got it all back.

Down by as many as 26 points, the Hornets cut the deficit to 73-67 on a corner 3-pointer from Gianni Hunt with 3:32 to go.

The next possession, Eastern turned the ball over – one of 17 in the game – and Zach Chappell scored the next two baskets: a 3-pointer from the wing, and then a leaner in transition to cut EWU’s lead to 73-72.

“That’s a focus thing, not being able to lose a great player like that and give him confidence and momentum,” Riley said of Chappell, who scored 19 of his 23 points after halftime. “The other piece of it is rebounds and turnovers … we’re not at our peak if we have 17 turnovers.”

Casey Jones answered Chappell’s shot with a layup with 2:05 left, and Eastern held its 75-72 lead into the final minute. With 39.5 seconds to go, Cedric Coward picked off Chappell’s pass down the baseline and called timeout.

But after he was fouled, Allegri missed the front end of a 1-and-1. On the ensuing possession, Chappell hit another 3-pointer – his fifth of the game – to tie the game at 75 with 14.5 seconds left, the first draw since the opening minute.

Yet Venters answered with his final 3-pointer, with 2.2 seconds left. Allegri knocked down the halfcourt inbound pass that followed, and Chappell, who picked up the ball, could only shoot from where he was at the buzzer.

It was another solid shooting performance by the Eagles, who made 13 of 31 3-point attempts, including seven of their first nine. Jones had nine of his 11 points in that opening spurt when he hit three 3s, helping to draw Sacramento State 7-footer Callum McRae to the perimeter.

McRae – who totaled 27 points and 17 rebounds against Idaho on Thursday – had only five points and four rebounds against the Eagles. He played just 20 minutes, matching a season low.

“Our plan was to put (McRae) on the perimeter, and we have amazing bigs that are super versatile who can shoot it,” Riley said.

Eastern shot 54.5% (30 of 55) and SSU hit 26 of 61 (42.6%), including 14 of 33 on 3-pointers.

The Eagles (10-7) are off until Saturday, when Eastern’s women’s and men’s basketball teams host the Idaho Vandals for a doubleheader. The women’s game is scheduled to tip at 1 p.m.