ST. DAVIDS, Pa.--Eastern University Men's Basketball succumbed to the Hood College Blazers in overtime, losing 88-90 at home Tuesday night.

Collin Whipple scored 24 points to pace the Eagles in the losing effort. Four other Eagles breached double-digit scores: Michael Donatoni (17), Alex Nelson (15), Martin Soaries (13) and Mitch Singer (10).

Hood's Cameron Cook netted 28 points and LaVar Rich scored 24 points before fouling out with 18 seconds left in regulation.

With Rich out of the game, Eastern appeared to have gained an advantage if the game went to overtime. Alex Nelson sank the resulting two free throws to bring Eastern within one, but was forced to commit his fifth foul after Hood evaded the initial full court trap. After Hood's Jordan Diggs missed the first and made the second, Eastern's Martin Soaries earned two free throws. Soaries sank them both to force overtime.

In overtime the Eagles traded buckets with the Blazers. However, Eastern failed to cash in on the free throw opportunities given them, missing five free throws in overtime. Eastern shot 22-for-34 from the free throw line during the game.

In the game's entirety, the Blazer's sank 62.5 percent of their 3-point attempts while Eastern shot eight-for-31 for a 25.8 percentage. Coach Stewart attributed the excessive 3-point shooting to inability to penetrate Hood's 2-3 zone. "We did a poor job of attacking their zone," he said. "We got a little bit passive and started chucking. Thirty-one 3-pointers are entirely too many for us."

Coach Stewart commended Collin Whipple for finding a way to attack the zone late in the game and also commended Mitch Singer's hustle. "I think [Mitch] was the unsung hero," he said. "He got a big block in transition and had 10 points in the first half. He just hustles and makes plays."

Before the game, Coach Nate Stewart had said that the game would likely be a battle, and it lived up to his expectations. "It was everything I thought it was going to be," he said. "I knew it was going to be a good test for us. I have to give Hood credit. They were without two of their starters and they made plays when they needed to make plays. We just couldn't get a stop or make free throws down the stretch."

He believes that the overtime experience will help his team when they begin conference play on Dec. 3.

The Eagles will have one more non-league game prior to that when they faceoff with Ursinus College on Saturday on the campus of Neumann University. 

Box Score