CHENEY, Wash. — The Big Sky's leading men's basketball team is flying through conference play and it's the Eastern Washington Eagles. If you haven't been paying attention, something special is happening in Cheney.
"You kind of have moments you sit down and you're like 'wow, we're really doing this," said Eastern Washington sophomore forward Ethan Price.
Yes, they really are.
Eastern Washington men's basketball is having a historic season. The Eagles are a perfect 12-0 in Big Sky Conference play, the best start in program history.
On top of that, the Eagles are on a 14-game winning streak, which is also a program record and the longest active winning streak in men's college basketball.
"It's unreal, man. It's an unreal feeling," said senior forward Angelo Allegri. "But, it feels good, though! You know? You don't want it to stop!"
Ask anyone on the team how they've done it and you'll get the same answer.
"I think we're a tough, unselfish team," said EWU head coach David Riley.
The toughness stemming from a group of guys that have felt overlooked.
"I feel like we're definitely guys that just have chips on their shoulders always have to prove everybody wrong. And I feel like that's what we're doing now. You know, preseason, we were picked fifth," said Allegri. "I never really take it to heart because I know we're so much better than fifth, right? I mean, we're first now so and that just speaks levels, man."
The unselfishness coming from the top.
"It starts with your leaders, you know, Steele's a great example of that. He's a guy that you put him in a different system, he could probably average more points, but he understands that when you play the right way, in the system, everyone eats we win more games," said Riley.
Which is helpful when you've got a team full of hungry players.
"A lot of these guys coming off the bench could start anywhere else in the Big Sky for sure," said redshirt sophomore guard/forward Steele Venters. "And I think the biggest thing is that we're just so versatile."
"I think we have five guys that have 20 point games so far and in the Big Sky. Two other guys that have double-double's. So, seven guys that have had huge dominant impacts in games. You just don't see that at this level where we have depth like that," said Riley.
With March approaching, keep an eye out for the Eags.
"We've got something special," said Riley.
Until then, they'll relish this record setting ride.
"Just take a moment and enjoy it at the end of the day because not many teams or people get to do it in the lifetime," said Price.
The Eagles will look for their 15th consecutive win on Saturday. Eastern Washington will travel to Moscow to renew its rivalry with the Idaho Vandals with tip-off set for 3:30 p.m.
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