After three tough road games to start their slate of League games in their first game in the Freedom Conference, the Eastern University men's basketball team finally had the chance to play at home. The youthful Eagles responded well to that chance as they fought off several comeback attempts from a disciplined and patient King's team and earned a 64-54 win.

Closely contested throughout, the game had just a single lead change s the Eagles took the lead for good at 13-12 on a Jason Reels lay-in midway through the first. Reels would finish the day tied for game-high honors with 19 points. When starting center Don Kaiser picked up a couple quick fouls trying to check reigning Freedom Conference Player of the Week Kevin Conroy in the post, the Eastern staff tried several options at the five spot. Carlos Pujols, Eddie Mbanda, and Ty Coleman each took their turn defending the five spot.

Eastern Head Coach Nadelhoffer said of Coleman, "Ty came in and gave us great defense on Conroy. They are committed to playing to their strengths, so we knew that whoever we put on Conroy was going to have to guard him on every possession. Ty battled with him and gave us a good spark at the offensive end." Coleman would finish the day with 12 points including a critical three point play to give the Eagles a five point lead with just over two minutes to play.

In addition to Coleman's effort, the staff was very pleased with Jason Reels on the evening, "Jason made some huge plays for us in critical moments," Nadelhoffer said, "and our older players in general helped us to make really good decisions with the ball." The Eagles finished with just eight turnovers.

Eastern took their biggest lead of the first half at 32-22 on a steal and a dunk from Tyrik Tucker.  The Eagles finished the half with a series of empty possessions, but still held a 32-25 lead at the break. The Monarchs refused to panic and continued to cut into the Eastern edge on solid shooting from distance and slashing back door cuts. Twice in the half, the visitors put together runs that closed the Eastern gap, but each time the Eagles responded with a solid defensive stand that would create a series of scoring opportunities. 

"We had several chances where we could have buckled, but we dug in and executed," Nadelhoffer said, "that's something we were pretty sure we could do at home. We will need to show that we can do that on the road on Saturday."

Conroy also finished with 19 points.  Eastern returns to action Saturday afternoon at Delaware Valley College.