With a very young roster, this year was certain to have some ups and downs. The Eastern University men's basketball team rebounded from their first loss of the year with a solid 71-66 home win over Valley Forge Christian College in their final contest before opening conference play next week. Martin Soaries and Tyrik Tucker paced the Eagles with 17 points apiece.

The visiting Patriots entered the game at 6-1 and had shown the ability to hit the three-point shot with consistency. Their guard-laden line-up gave the Eagles trouble early as they pulled out to 15-6 lead. Valley Forge would connect on 7-14 three pointers in the opening half, but the Eagles used solid inside scoring to chip away at that early lead.

Eastern would take the lead for good with 90 seconds left in the first period on a three-pointer from Soaries. The first-year guard then stole a ball and bumped the Eastern lead to five with a breakaway lay-up. Undaunted, the Patriots responded with yet another triple from Nate Stoner. Their senior guard would finish the day with a game-high 19 point and 12 rebound effort. 

Junior guard Jason Reels, who earned All-tournament honors at Dickinson last weekend, scored the first two buckets of the second half to extend the Eastern lead to six. Derek Wright then put away a second chance basket to force the visitors to take a timeout just three minutes into the second half. 

For a time, the Eagles put four freshmen and a junior on the floor. That group helped stretch the lead to ten as Collin Whipple and Soaries hit threes and Carlos Pujols scored six inside points. For the day, the Eastern freshmen scored 45 of the team's 71 points. Tucker finished the day 7-8 from the foul line and led the Eagles with ten rebounds.

Eastern Head Coach Matt Nadelhoffer said of his team's effort, "That is a tough team to match up with. I felt we did a better job of closing down their shooters in the second half, and it was good to see us be efficient on the offensive end. With our young team, I'm pleased to be going to the Thanksgiving break with four wins under our belts."

Eastern returns to action on December 3rd when they play at Manhattanville in their first conference game.

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