at both ends of the court that brought them back into the game and seemed to suggest that the team was finding its identity. While one game does not constitute a trend, if this afternoon's 68-47 win over conference foe Arcadia was any indication, the Eastern Men's basketball team is going to provide for an entertaining winter of hard-nosed basketball.

The Eagles used tough interior defense to force 12 first half turnovers and limit the Scarlet Knights to 38% first half shooting to run out to a 31-24 lead. Matt Malloy led the way for the Eagles in the opening frame with seven points and seven tough rebounds, but the real story of the first half was the depth of Coach Nadelhoffer's squad. The home side got solid performances off the bench from Jason Reels, Chris Myers, and Dan Piotrowski to spark the team on runs. Piotrowski made an instant impact with two steals, a tough inside hoop, and a long three pointer.

In the second half, the Eagles responded to a Dave Boettcher with a 14-1 run in the first six minutes. Junior guard David Volpe stuck a pair of three pointers to push the Eastern advantage to 18. After Andrew Martin scored an inside hoop to stop the run, the Eagles refused to let up and stuck in another 7-2 run to take the lead over 20 where it would remain for the entire last thirteen minutes of the game.

The disciplined Eagles shot 61% for the second half. Volpe hit all six of his second half shots en route to a season high 21 point performance. No other Eastern player scored in double figures as the offense moved the ball very well. Malloy and Mike Johnson both finished with nine points and eight boards, and Johnson chipped in with eight assists. Lenny DiMaria also poured in nine for the Eagles. Boetcher led the Scarlet Knights with 15 and was joined in double figures by Martin with 10. Eastern held Arcadia to just 23% shooting in the second half.

Eastern(2-3, 1-1)  returns to action Monday evening with another key PAC game at College Misericordia.