ST. DAVIDS, Pa.--After shooting 64 percent from the field two days before, Eastern University Men's Basketball shot just 31.1 percent in Saturday's 64-74 loss to the Messiah College Falcons.

The Eagles dropped to 6-3 this season while the Falcons improved to 4-4.

Eastern's Mike Donatoni and Martin Soaries both scored 17 points in the loss.

The Eagles struggled to score from their half court offense, but did score 24 points off of the Falcons' 21 turnovers. The Eagles kept their turnovers down to nine. 

The Falcons posted a 21-8 run to start the second half and led by 25 points with 10:33 left. Neither team scored for the next three and a half minutes, but Martin Soaries ended the scoring drought with two free throws. For the next three minutes, the Eagles successfully used their full court pressure and outscored the Falcons 19-2, bringing them within eight points of evening the score. 

However, Eastern's momentum evaporated when Anthony Parenti's expression of excitement at a Messiah offensive foul was deemed taunting by an official. Messiah's Derek Mosely made both technical foul shots and after those baskets, Eastern was never able to bring the score any closer than 10.

On a positive note, the Eagles shot 24-for-30 (80 percent) from the free throw line which is 10 percentage points higher than their season average. 

Brad Bolen led the Falcons with 23 points, including 15 in the first. Bolen shot five-for-eight from the 3-point line. As a team, the Falcons shot 10-for-23 from 3-point range, and the Eagles shot two-for-12.

The Eagles don't play again for the next 18 days. Their next game is in New Orleans against Husson University in the Big Easy Classic.