ST. DAVIDS, Pa.–The first night of December is also the opening night
of league play for teams in the Freedom Conference. If the preseason
poll is to be believed, this year figures to go down to the wire. With
that thought in mind, Eastern University Men's Basketball entered the
evening knowing the importance of winning at home in the opener. The
Eagles shot well from the perimeter and secured key rebounds in critical
moments to best King's College (2-3, 0-1) 62-52 in grinding physical
contest.
Neither team was able to find any space for shots in the
opening minutes, and midway through the first period the Eagles led 9-8.
King's grabbed a 10-9 lead on a Chris Hobson lay-in with nine minutes
to play. Eastern then closed out the first half on a 16-9 run.
Collin
Whipple seemed to be everywhere in that spell. The junior guard
penetrated into the lane and set up Corey Gordon for a three pointer. He
then finished a lay-up in transition for a four point edge. With seven
minutes to play he again found his way into the traffic inside before
kicking to the perimeter for an open three pointer. Chaz Merriman-Brown
had his feet set on the wing and knocked down the open look. Whipple
created another open look for Merriman-Brown in answer to a King's
basket. Through the run, Whipple dished out three assists and scored
five points to help the Eagles to a 25-17 lead at half.
"In
practice, Coach emphasizes being patient on offense," Whipple said,
"especially when the team is in a zone. So we were patient and worked
the ball around." The junior captain also knows that part of beating a
zone is taking responsibility for getting into the middle. As the shot
clock ticked down on each first-half possession, he was able to create
good chances.
The Eagles held the lead through to the finish, but
it was never easy. King's cut into the lead several times, but each
time, a new Eastern player seemed to step up to make a play. On several
different occasions Don Kaiser was the guy to step up and make the play.
The junior center made himself available around the basket and
converted on 5-6 attempts in the second half. Several of those shots
came with only seconds remaining on the shot clock.
"We want our
guys," Head Coach Matt Nadelhoffer said after the game, "to focus on
three things: character, attitude, and effort. We want them to maximize
that each day. I thought our bench did a great job with that tonight,
staying in it the whole game." The Eagles got 29 of their 62 points from
non-starters.
With 1:34 on the clock King's called a timeout down
seven. At that point in the game, the Eagles had only three offensive
rebounds, and Alex Nelson, Eastern's leading scorer, who entered the
evening averaging 21 points per game, had just three points. King's
scored a basket and sent Mike Donatoni to the line. The Eastern point
guard hit the first one, but missed the second.
In discussing the
game afterwards Nadelhoffer reflected on the timeout. "We always preach
'next play.'" he said, "We want our guys to be thinking ahead. I looked
at Alex, who was not having an Alex Nelson day, and told him to focus
and finish strong. He went back out there and pulled down two rebounds. I
thought that was a great response - it was huge. he could have gotten
all into thinking about himself or how he only had three points, but
instead he made huge plays."
Nelson grabbed the rebound of the
Donatoni miss and powered a lay-up through a foul for a three point play
to effectively end the game. Though they struggled at the foul line as a
group, Donatoni made 5-6 down the stretch, and the Eagles seemed to
solve the mystery of the thre point line with a 6-12 effort from
distance.
Nadelhoffer wrapped up the day saying, "We know we have
to win at home. All the home teams in the Freedom won tonight. Our goal
is to hold people to 58 points and we held them to 52. I thought we did a
very very good job for most of the game. We like it when it comes down
to effort, and that's what happened tonight. We practice tomorrow at 7
a.m. I just told the guys, tomorrow is a new day and we are at ground
zero. Each day is another chance to attack our roles and improve."
Whipple finished with 13 to lead
the Eagles. Dan Miller and Merriman Brown each added eight off the
bench. Kevin Conroy and Kyle Stackhouse tallied 13 for the visitors.
Stackhouse led all rebounders with 11.
The Eagles (5-1, 1-0 Freedom) travel to Misericordia on Saturday to try to earn a road win in the league.
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