Eastern University Men's basketball topped Misericordia University 75-63 in an important Freedom Conference contest.

The Eagles trailed by by nine at the break, and were down 44-34 with 15 minutes to play. Soaries and fellow freshman Tyrik Tucker hit back to back three pointers to spark a 15-5 run in a four minute spell to tie the game. The Eagles did not take a free throw in the first 15 minutes of the second half, but connected on 13-15 down the stretch to seal the win.

The game truly was a tale of two halves, after allowing their hosts to hit 65% of their shots in the first half, the Eagles held the Cougars to just  9-30 shooting in the second. The Eastern staff elected to play much of the second half with a smaller line up, Reels and Tucker took leadership on the glass with seven and five rebounds to a 23-14 edge  in second half caroms. Reels collected seven of his team-high eight after the intermission. Eastern Head Coach Matt Nadelhoffer commented on his young team's response to the first half deficit saying, "We talked about getting stops and controlling the glass. I thought our guys responded very well to their changing defenses."

The decisive run of the game started after consecutive lay-ups from Robbie Johnson and Vinnie Baumunk put the Cougars up 10. Baumunk hit a pair of free throws after Soaries and Tucker connected on their threes. Tucker's triple was just his second long distance connection of the year. Carlos Pujols rolled in a pair of inside baskets on consecutive possessions to pull Eastern within a basket. The two teams then traded baskets and Johnson split another pair of free throws before Soaries tied the game with his third three of the half.  Soaries then gave the Eagles a 51-49 on a great finish on Reels pass in transition.

Dom Del Prete tied the game at 51-51 with a pair of foul shots. The Cougars would tie the game a final time at 56-56, but senior forward Ty Coleman scored six points in an 8-4 run to give the visitors a margin to work with, and the Eastern guards then took care of the ball and hit foul shots to earn the win.

Nadelhoffer said of the end of the game, "Our guys figured out a way to grind out another win. We are getting great contributions from our young guys, but we are also seeing some real veteran leadership. Jason did  a great job on the boards in the second half, and I was really pleased with Ty Coleman's work against their big guys today. We are really looking forward to a great challenge Monday night."

Jason Reels finished with 18 points and Tucker added 15. The win keeps the Eagles (14-6, 8-5) alone in third place in the league. Johnson led the Cougars with 17 points and Baumunk finished with 17 and a game-high nine rebounds.

Eastern returns to action Monday night in a big non-league game at Eagle Road rival Cabrini College (15-5). That game starts at 8:00 pm.