After nearly 2 weeks off for Christmas, Eastern University Men's Basketball began the 2011 portion of their campaign the same way they finished the 2010 section. Timely scoring and stifling defense led to a 70-62 win over Montclair State University at the PNC Bank Classic at the University of Scranton. Sophomore forward Alex Nelson made 5-7 three pointers to finish with a game-high 25 points as the Eagles stopped the Redhawks' ten game winning streak.

The Eagles and the Redhawks both entered the game near the top of the NCAA rankings in rebound margin. Montclair State won the battle of the boards 38-24, but Eastern shot 55% for the game and committed just ten turnovers to secure the victory and secure a spot in Monday's 4:00 pm championship game against the host Royals. Scranton downed Cazenovia College 96-74 in the second game.

The Eagles endured a bit of a rough start with three turnovers in the first five minutes, but the Redhawks were unable to take advantage and the Eagles would give the ball away just once in the final 15 minutes of the half. Montclair State (10-2) grabbed a 5-2 lead on a Tom Bonard three-pointer five minutes into the game. The three point edge would be Montclair's biggest lead of the day. Dan Miller, who finished with 13 points off the bench, connected on a short jumper to cut the deficit to one. The lead changed hands four times in quick succession before the Redhawks grabbed a 10-8 lead on a three-point play from Michael Price with just under 11 minutes to play in the half.

Nelson sparked a 17-4 run over a five minute stretch. Eastern's leading scorer connected on three deep three-pointers and scored 13 points in the decisive run of the first half. Montclair State would cut into the deficit in the second half, but the bigger Redhawks never regained the league.

"Alex hit some big shots," Head Coach Matt Nadelhoffer said after the game, "we did some good things offensively, but the key to this game was our defense and the way we took care of the ball. Donny [Kaiser] and Danny [Miller] were huge for us off the bench." Miller and Kaiser (8 points) were the primary scorers for an Eastern bench that outscored their counterparts 29-10 for the game.

Nelson had 15 to lead all scorers as Eastern held a 35-25 lead at intermission. The Eagles held a 13-11 edge on the boards but did not have an offensive rebound. Montclair State used their size advantage to grab 17 offensive rebounds in the second half, but that would not be enough as the Eagles scored in big moments to hold them off.

The Redhawks cut the deficit to 37-34 out of the break, but Kaiser finished inside off a feed from Mike Donatoni to momentarily stem the tide. After a Redhawk basket again trimmed the deficit to three, Kaiser collected a put-back basket to bump the edge up to 41-36 with 16 minutes to play. 

The Eagles then endured a possession where the Redhawks secured five offensive rebounds but did not score. Nelson bumped the lead back to eight with a deep three on a kick-out pass from Donatoni. The Eagles pushed the edge back to 48-38 with 12:30 to play, but the Redhawks responded with an 8-2 run to cut the Eastern lead to 50-46.

Martin Soaries, who spent most of the game playing the role of provider, made two straight jumpers to bump the edge back to eight. Soaries finished with a game-high six assists off the bench. After a Nelson lay-in bumped the edge back to 10, the Redhawks again seemed poised to make another run, but Donatoni converted a three point play and set up Nelson on another deep three restore the comfortable margin.

Bonard and Andrew August scored 15 points apiece to pace Montclair State. 

The Eagles (8-1) look to build on their best start in program history tomorrow before returning to Freedom Conference play with a home game against DeSales on Saturday. Fans are reminded that Saturday's home game marks the beginning of Eastern's Coat Drive, and that spectators bringing a winter coat for donation will be admitted free of charge.