Eastern University Men's basketball battled the defending champion and #1 seed Alvernia College, but the host Crusaders used a 16-0 run over the last seven minutes of the first half to advance to the finals of the PAC tournament. With the loss, the Eagles end the year at 16-11,

Things started well enough for the Eagles, as they responded to Alvernia's opening basket with an inside bucket from Jason Reels a three pointer from Lenny DiMaria. The Eastern defense contested Crusader shots, and the Eagles limited the host's second chance opportunities by taking care of all but the longest rebounds. Six minutes into the game, Alvernia took an 8-7 lead, their first of the game on a Terrence Shawell three-point basket. Reels, who led the Eagles with 14 points on the evening, responded with another inside basket, and David Volpe hit his only three pointer of the game to give the Eagles a 12-8 lead with 12 minutes to play in the half.

Over the next two minutes, the Eagles earned three defensive stops, but were unable to stretch the lead as they committed a pair of unforced turnovers and missed a layup. Senior guard Garrett Etzl converted a three point play at the ten minute mark as Alvernia bounced off the ropes and began to deliver the convincing blows of the game.

The Crusaders took the lead for good at 16-14 with under eight minutes to play on a short jumper from Ryan Finger. Shawell then stretched the Alvernia lead to four with a thunderous dunk in transition. Eastern looked to have shaken it off as Matt Malloy responded immediately with a nice inside basket to make it 18-16 with 7:03 to play in the half.

The Eagles were unable to score a field goal or earn a trip to the foul line for the remainder of the half, and the Crusaders exectued flawlessly on the offensive end to put the game out of reach at half.

The Eagles traded baskets with the Crusaders to start the second half, but the experienced defending champions committed just six second half turnovers and were able to solve any pressure defense the Eastern team threw at them. Alvernia routinely shot the ball with under eight seconds left on the shot clock, and they were able to hit on 60% of their field goal attempts for the second half.

Malloy joined Reels in double figures for the Eagles with 12 points, but every time it looked as though the Eagles were going to make a run to close within twelve, a shot would rim out and the hosts would execute at the other end. The Eagles committed just four second half turnovers, but could not shoot well enough to close the distance on the experienced Crusaders. Shawell, who did not start, led all scorers with 22 points, and was joined in double figures by Etzl with 11, Matt King with 13, and Tyrone Bradley with 10.

The Eagles finished the season with a 16-11 mark and a trip to the PAC Semi-finals. The sixteen wins equals the high water mark for the program set last season, and the trip to the PAC Semifinals isj ust the second in the program's history. Lenny DiMaria, who scored his 1000th career point early in the month, is the only graduating senior on this year's team.