The Eastern Men's Basketball Staff knew that they would need consistent performances from each of their key contributors to down the Alvernia College Crusaders. The Eagles showed spurts of solid play and kept things close to the end, but were unable to come up with the big play to take the lead in an exciting second half. The Crusaders' largest lead of the game was their last as they pulled away to a 63-55 win in St. Davids.

The first half went back and forth with both teams building five point leads. The Eagles built their advantage with eight minutes to play on an inside basket from Junior Center Daryl Leegwater off a pass from Jason Reels. The Crusaders made three straight baskets including a Tim Walters three-pointer on a kick out after a loose ball to retake the lead.

Undeterred, Eastern made three straight baskets of their own on a tough left-handed shot in traffic by Brent Williams, a six foot jumper from Reels and an inside shot from Mike Johnson to take a 27-23 lead with four and a half minutes to plya in the half. Three turnovers on the next four possessions allowed the Crusaders to take a lead they would not surrender the rest of the way and go into the break up 31-29.

The Eagles threatened to close the gap several times, and actually tied the game at 47 midway through the second half on another inside basket from Leegwater, but were unable to regain the lead. The Crusaders built a six point lead and held the margin between four and six to finish the game before making their free throws to finish the game.

Coach Nadelhoffer said of the afternoon, "Given some of our recent games against Alvernia, this game gives us some hope that we have closed the gap, but we still need to find a way to make the big play to get over the hump in games like this."

Reels finished with 14 points, 8 rebounds, and 5 assists to lead the Eagles in each category. Matt Flanagan pumped in 11 points off the Eastern bench. Terrence Shawell led all scorers with 15 points, and Walters added 14 for the Crusaders. 

The Eagles are off until after finals, when they will travel to Delaware Valley College before their Christmas tournament in Hawaii.