Saturday's men's basketball game at Wilkes University was a game of runs. The host Colonels put together an 18-4 run over the last six minutes of the game to break open a 55-55 tie and earn their second straight Freedom Conference win. Jason Reels led the Eagles with 18 points, and Danny Miller came off the bench to add 14.
The two teams locked horns in a defensive struggle early as neither team let the other have an easy look at the basket in the opening 10 minutes of play. Miller scored six straight points in a forty second span to lift the Eagles to a 12-11 lead with just under eleven minutes to play. The Eastern guards maintained ball pressure and limited quality scoring chances for the Colonels early, but the pre-season favorites put on an 11-2 burst over the next five minutes to open up an eight point edge with six minutes to play in the opening half.
The Colonels opened up a ten point cushion on a Michael Donatoni triple with four minutes to play. The Eagles responded with an 8-2 run of their own to tighten up the game to 30-25 going into the break. Tyrik Tucker scored a three-point play and a dunk in the run.
For the the first half the bigger hosts looked inside to Steve Kline. He scored 14 of his game-high 24 points in the opening half. The Colonels enjoyed a 12-2 advantage in first half free-throws. Neither team shot well from the floor, but Eastern's active defense forced eight turnovers and limited Wilkes to just 22 field goal attempts. At the other end of the floor, the Eagles shot just 33%.
Still Coach Nadelhoffer and his staff were encouraged to be within five despite their shooting woes. "We guarded the ball very well in the first half," Nadelhoffer commented, "we felt that we were going to be able to find ways to score, but I was pleased to see our guys commit to the defensive game plan."
The Eagles burst out of the locker room with a 15-3 run to seize a 40-33 lead just under five minutes into the half. Reels sparked the run with nine points. Wilkes then responded with a 16-0 run to turn the tables and take a 49-40 lead. Standout guard Chris DeRojas hit a trio of three-pointers in just a little over a minute to fuel the Wilkes run. "We did a great job on him in the first half," said Nadelhoffer, "but we broke down twice. He hit his two good looks and then it didn't matter if we got a hand in his face." DeRojas finished the game with 23 points on five triples. He scored 20 in the second half.
Down nine with ten minutes to play, the Eagles clawed their way back into the game with a 15-6 run to level the game at 55. DeRojas hit his final three following a Wilkes free throw, and the hosts began their decisive run.
The Colonels held a 44-19 edge in rebounds and shot 21 more free throws than the Eagles. Wilkes improves to 2-0 in Freedom Conference play, while the Eagles fall to 0-2. Nadelhoffer was encouraged by some positive steps for his young team. He said, "We had some stretches tonight where we had four freshmen on the floor. We had times where we looked great tonight and times where we had pretty serious lapses. But I am very encouraged by the effort and the things we showed at the defensive end of the floor tonight. We know that no road games in this league will be easy, but to open at Manhattanville and then here are a couple tough ones. We will continue to gain experience and I think we will compete in every game this year."
The Eagles break for finals and return to action on the 16th at home against Immaculata.
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