The Eastern University men's basketball team entered this evening's home game against Wilkes a half a game out of the second spot in the Freedom Conference standings. The Eagles used a 17-3 early in the second half to turn a close game into a comfortable 65-49 win. The Eagles held Wilkes (13-11, 4-9 Freedom) to just 29% shooting for the game.
Things did not start so well for the home side. Junior guard Chris DeRojas scored eight points early to lead Wilkes to a 19-12 lead just over halfway into the opening period. The Eagles then closed out the first frame on an 18-6 run and went to the break up 30-25. Alex Nelson scored six points in the run, and Paul Trusty added five. The most spectacular play in the spurt came following a Collin Whipple steal. Derek Wright picked up a pass in the middle of the floor and fired a 40 foot no-look pass to Martin Soaries to break a 21-21 tie with four and a half minutes to play.
Nelson led the Eagles with nine points in the first twenty minutes while DeRojas went to the break with ten. Neither team shot well n the opening period, but the Colonels kept things close with 10-13 from the foul line.
Soaries started the second half with a lay-in on a nice set, but Wilkes quickly cut the deficit to 34-30 on consecutive jumpers from Cliff Richardson and DeRojas. Eddie Mbanda drained a 16-footer and an Alex Nelson put-back. Derek Wright then put on his own seven point run with a pair of spinning lay-ups and a three pointer on a pass from Soaries.
When the lead hit 18 on a pair of Soaries baskets, the Wilkes staff called a timeout and went to the bench with 10 minutes to play. Bernard Edmonds scored ten in the final minutes, but the Eastern reserves held the lead. Chrishaw Nelson Scored four points as the Eagles pushed the lead to 24 with three minutes to play.
Eastern head coach Matt Nadelhoffer was pleased to see his team put together the decisive run. He said, "We haven't run away in any of our home games. I was really happy that 'Shaw [Nelson], Dave [Christenson], and Raf [Rafael Twiggs] got some extended minutes in front of the home crowd. Those guys have busted it the whole year in practice, and they are a big part of who we are. It was also good to see Chris [Myers] and Martin [Soaries] get a little shorter night." Soaries leads the league in minutes played and Myers is third.
Eastern won the battle of the boards 41-32 over the bigger Colonels. Coach Nadelhoffer's group connected on 15-25 shots after half while holding Wilkes to 8-25. Derek Wright led all scorers with 14. Alex Nelson continued to press the argument for league Rookie of the Year as he registered a double-double with 13 points and 10 boards. Soaries scored ten in just 28 minutes of action. DeRojas (13 points) and Edmonds were the only two players in double-figures for the guests.
With the win, the Eagles move into a tie for second with Misericordia University going into the final game of the regular season. If the Eagles beat Delaware Valley or Misericordia loses to Manhattanville on Saturday, they would secure the second seed in the Freedom Tournament. DeSales is the top seed, and King's is the fourth seed.
Eastern will honor their seniors and have several special events in an event sponsored by Chick-Fil-A during Saturday's regular season finale.
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