Eastern University Men's Basketball shot just 37% for the game. The host Falcons, playing in their first game since Christmas, looked fresh as they connected on 54% of their shots on the way to a 76-60 win.

The game started out with both teams finding scoring chances, and a Jordan Decker three-pointer made the score 12-11 Messiah with just over 13 minutes to go in the opening period. The Falcons then hit three-pointers on four straight possessions to race to a 24-11 lead with 11 minutes to play. Drew Sneeringer hit three straight threes in the run. The Eagles closed the gap to six at 36-30 on a Mike Johnson lay-up with 2:24 on the clock, but Messiah would close out the half on a 7-2 run and never look back.

Coach Nadelhoffer said of the early run, "Credit goes to Messiah for hitting those shots, a couple of them were from really deep, but we have to be better at realizing what we are seeing and taking steps to close it down. They made good use of their possessions, and we didn't make good use of ours."

The Eagles struggled to an 11-35 shooting second half and were never able to carve into the Messiah advantage. Nadelhoffer said of the second half, "We couldn't force them to make mistakes, and they didn't have to force us. We knew that this was going to be a tough stretch in the schedule, but I am disappointed because I didn't feel like we competed well this evening." 

Johnson led the Eagles with nine points. Sneeringer led four Falcons in double figures with 16. The Eastern team will have a day to recover and refocus before returning to action at home against Centenary on Saturday. The men's game is scheduled to start at 3:00 pm.