Men's Basketball January 29, 2007

Second Half Lifts Eagles

to a 71-51 home win. Tyrone Coleman led a balanced Eagle attack with 15 points.

The Pacers jumped to a quick 6-0 lead on three pointers from Adam Wildasin and Jeff Moen, but the Eagles responded with a 12-0 run to take the lead for good. The Eagles took the lead on a Mike Johnson three pointer from the right wing, and bumped the advantage to six when Volpe hit his only three pointer of the game. The Pacers hung around for much of the first half thanks to six of 12 three point shooting. The Pacers, who had 15 turnovers in the opening period cut the Eagle lead to 34-30 with a minute to go on a Karl Anderson three from the corner. Kevin Raab finished the half with a putback basket to bump the Eastern lead back to six.

The Eagles shot just 42% for the first half, and seemed to be out of sync in the half court, but their defense was able to prevent the Pacers from getting an inside attack going. The second half saw Mike Johnson assert himself on the glass almost immediately. The 6'5 forward grabbed nine rebounds, dished out a pair of assists, block three shots, and pick up a pair of steals as the Eagles began to control the inside. The Pacers, who had been red hot from the perimeter in the first half, found fewer open looks and finished the second half 0-8 from behind the arc.

Eastern assistant coach Ryan Livingston said of the game, "We were not pleased with our first half execution or effort at the defensive end, but we put together a solid second half. Mike Johnson was dominant in the second half."

Eastern got double figure scoring from Coleman, Matt Flanagan with eleven, and Matt Malloy with ten. Malloy influenced the game again by forcing the Marywood guards away from the basket and tipping numerous balls. The Eagles, who never led by less than eight in the second half, move to 11-8 overall and 8-6 in PAC play.

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Players Mentioned

#4 Tyrone Coleman: F; Sophomore

#11 Matt Flanagan: G; Junior

#32 Matt Malloy: F; Junior

#33 Mike Johnson: F; Junior

#40 Kevin Raab: F; Sophomore

Players Mentioned

#4 Tyrone Coleman
: Sophomore
: F

#11 Matt Flanagan
: Junior
: G

#32 Matt Malloy
: Junior
: F

#33 Mike Johnson
: Junior
: F

#40 Kevin Raab
: Sophomore
: F