Earlier this week, Major League Baseball named Albert Pujols as the National League MVP. Eastern University Basketball fans may soon be looking to collect "Pujols for MVP" shirts. Carlos Pujols, a first year forward, came off the bench to score 13 points, grab four rebounds, and dish out apair of spectacular assists as the Eagles earned a 70-60 win over Messiah College.

Messiah (0-1) jumped to an early 14-9 lead on the strength of a pair of early three-pointers from Andy Hawk and Jason Miller. Pujols cut the deficit to two points when he converted a three-point play off a nice pass from junior Jason Reels. Eastern briefly tied the score before the visitors took a 22-19 advantage  with 6:44 to play on a lay-in from Hawk.

Then, the Eastern defense took over the game. The Eagles scored 14 straight points to grab an 11 point lead before a Josh Hartman trey with 12 seconds left made the halftime score 33-25. Derek Wright led the Eastern scorers with 8 points at the break, and Jordan Decker was influential in the closing run with seven points in five minutes of action. Eastern Head Coach MattNadelhoffer said of the closing moments of the half, "We played great defense in that stretch. This group is buying in to what we are trying to do defensively, and we should be able to get runs off our defense. If we could have made our free throws, we would have been in great shape."

The Falcons again started with momentum out of the locker room as they put together a 10-2 run in the opening three and a half minutes to tie the game at 35-35.Pujols then came into the game to replace starting center Don Kaiser who had picked up his third foul. Eastern went right to the freshman at the high post. After looking to pass for several seconds, Pujols put the ball on the floor and went to the basket for a contested lay up. 

After Messiah split a pair at the line, Martin Soaries,  who would finish with a game-high 15 points, slashed into the lane and fed an open Pujols for another lay-in. Soaries then scored five straight points on a deep three and a twisting lay-up, and the Eagles returned their advantage to eight at 44-36.

Colton Reitz scored out of the time out to cut the Eastern lead back to six, but Pujols again answered with a put-back basket. The two teams each picked up just a single basket over the next three minutes. Pujols would briefly stretch the Eastern advantage to 50-40 on a pair of free throws before Miller again connected on a triple.

The big man brought the near-capacity crowd to its feet with a no-look bounce-pass to Wright to give the Eagles a 52-43 lead with nine minutes to play. Before coming out of the gamePujols took a charge. Nadelhoffer said of his post player, "He can play. He has really good hands and his feet are really quick. He is probably going to be a fan favorite in very little time." 

Freshman guard Collin Whipple knocked down a three on another nice pass from Soaries to put the Eagles up twelve. From that point on, the Eastern squad tried to be patient and manage the game. Nadelhoffer commented, "We will need to get better in those last five minutes, but I am really proud of the way our guys competed on every possession today. We got 38 points from freshmen, and they are probably the big story, but I was pleased with the leadership of our older guys as well. Messiah is a good program and for us to pick up a win here is a really good start for us."

The Eagles return to action at Dickinson College on Friday night. They will take on Salisbury University in the opening game of the Pizza Hut Tip-Off Classic.