Alvernia has been a tough place for Eastern Men's Basketball to play. The Eagles had not won in the PEC since December of 1999. They looked to be in for more of the same after Alvernia's Derek Dubbs connected on a pair of free throws to put the Crusaders up 51-41 with just under twelve minutes to play, but Eastern pieced together a 15-4 run over the next four and a half minutes and would hit their free throws down the stretch to pull away to a 77-71 Freedom Conference Win.

The victory lifts the Eagles to 7-5 and third place in the league. Alvernia held a 31-30 lead at intermission, but the Eastern coaching staff was dissatisfied with their finishing and their defense. Though they forced the Crusaders into 16 fist half turnovers, the Eagles allowed their hosts to shoot 14-21 and collect six offensive rebounds. Head Coach Matt Nadelhoffer said, "We told the guys at the half that we needed to fight, focus, and finish. We must have missed eight or nine lay-ups in the first half, and if we didn't get a steal, they scored. We had to do better."

Tyrik Tucker led all scorers with 14 points at half-time. Nick Rivera had 10 for Alvernia. The Eagles struggled out of the gate in the second half.

Alvernia committed to going inside and crashing the glass, and Eastern found themselves in foul trouble almost immediately. The Crusaders reached the double-bonus with just under twelve minutes to play. Tucker picked up his third foul in the early moments and it looked as though the Eagles were without a first option on offense. Freshman guard Collin Whipple Sparked the run with a strong post-up and three point play to answer Dubbs' free throws. 

The Eagles then committed to going inside on every possession, and Derek Wright hit a pair of free throws and a four-footer on either side of a Marcel Roane jumper to cut the deficit to five. Martin Soaries, who would score 11 of his game-high 18 points in the second half, connected on a pair of free throws to briefly cut the deficit to 53-50. David Washington hit a pair of free throws, but Jason Reels responded with a a pair of inside baskets to give put the Eagles within one with 7:47 on the clock.

The Eagles held Alvernia to 36% shooting in the second half. They picked up an important stop and Soaries hit a lay-up on an inbounds play to give the Eagles their first lead of the second half at 56-55 with 7:04 to play. The Eagles would hit just one more basket for the remainder of the game. Jeff Amponseh hit a lay up as the shot clock expired to put Alvernia back up one, but Wright hit another pair of free throws to put the Eagles up for good. 

Eastern connected on 25-33 free throws in the second half including ten in a row in a critical stretch to pull away. Coach Nadelhoffer was quick to point out the tough play of Whipple, who finished with eight points and four rebounds, and the defensive work of senior Ty Coleman. Eastern's lone senior finished the evening with seven points, four rebounds, and three steals.

Reels finished the game with 15 points. Nadelhoffer summed up the day saying, "This is a huge win for us. We have never in my time here been able to find a way to win here, and we did it tonight. We were in trouble early in the second half, but this group of guys has a toughness that is really encouraging. We got 44 points out of our freshmen tonight-- they are not playing like freshmen anymore. We have to keep pushing, but this was a huge win."

The Eagles travel again on Saturday as they head up the Northeast Extension to take on Misericordia University in a 3:00 pm game. The Cougars won in St. Davids in January.

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