Eastern University Men's Basketball struggled to score over the last eleven minutes of the game, and Immaculata's Jason Hyman finished a short shot with just under seven seconds left to lift the Mighty Macs to 64-63 win and the second seed in the PAC Playoffs. The loss leaves the Eagles outside looking in.
The lead changed hands 13 times in the second half as both teams matched basket for basket and stop for stop. The Eagles forged a ten point lead early in the first half, but the Mighty Macs used good pressure defense and offensive rebounding to carve the Eastern advantage to three points at the break.
Immaculata honored four seniors before the game, and the emotion of the day and the urgency of the Eastern cause raised the level of intensity as the game progressed. With five minutes to play, Daryl Leegwater broke a 51-51 tie with a fifteen footer on a nice kick from Mike Johnson. The Mighty Macs answered with two free throws from Sean Fordham. Brent Williams pushed the ball into traffic and earned a trip to the line. The Eagles have struggled from the line all year, but Williams dropped his pair with confidence. The Eagles made 8-9 from the line in the last three minutes of the game and 20-24 overall.
Kyle Finklea answered Williams' free throws with a contested sixteen footer that caught nothing but net. Eastern responded by working the ball into Leegwater. The 6-8 post player led the Eagles with 14 points and 11 rebounds. His jump-hook rolled in and out, but he was fouled in the process, and his two free throws gave the Eagles a 57-55 lead with just over two minutes to play.
Finklea again answered with a three-pointer over Williams. Williams again pushed the ball into traffic and made a shot while being knocked to the floor. His free throw rolled out but the Eagles led 59-58. Finklea, who finished with a game-high 20 points made another tough mid-range jumper to return the advantage to the hosts.
Williams made another pair from the line, and the Eagles got a stop, but a turnover in transition gave the ball back to the hosts and Finklea again answered with one minute to play. After both teams earned stops and secured big defensive rebounds, the Eagles had their chance coming out of a time out with 17 seconds to play.
They designed a play for Matt Flanagan, but the senior guard was held coming off the screen, and he had to hit a pair from the line to take the lead. He hit both to give the Eagles their final lead of the year. Finklea found Hyman for the game winner with seven seconds to play, and Williams drive to the basket as time expired rimmed out.
Coach Nadelhoffer said of the day, "This was a tough day for us, but I told the players that I wanted us to go out and fight today. I felt like we gave a great effort, and it was not enough. It stinks that we are not going to have the chance to play together with this unit anymore. This group of seniors is very special to me and my family, and I feel terrible that it has to end. On the other hand, we lost to a good team on their senior night in a great battle. I am proud of the effort they gave. We will continue to learn and grow as people and as a program."
Box Score
