ST. DAVIDS, Pa.- Eastern University Men's Basketball used stingy defense and offense from unlikely sources to earn a 62-53 home win over FDU-Florham. Mike Donatoni scored a career-high 20 points to lead all scorers.

After the Devils grabbed a 3-2 lead on a long three-pointer from Adam Katz, Donatoni got involved int he game from the foul line. the junior guard hit all three free throws after getting leveled at the three point line. On the next possession he split a pair after a technical foul. The Eagles would not trail for the rest of the game.

Alex Nelson hit a three on a kick-out pass from Don Kaiser and then Donatoni put the Eagles (12-11, 5-8) up 12-3 with a three-pointer. The Devils answered with a Trevor Sykes three, but Donatoni again dialed in from distance to spark a 9-1 run. The Eagles led by 12 at the midway point of the first half and slowly ratcheted the lead to 36-20 at intermission.

"We knew we had been on a losing streak," Donatoni commented, "We've had some tough losses. We wanted to keep it loose, we wanted to have fun again. We just wanted to play basketball, play hard until the end of the season. Especially for our 3 seniors, there are two games left in their career. We just wanted to have fun again and give maximum effort." 

Donatoni's scoring was not the only pleasant surprise for the Estern staff. Ben deWaal Malefyt scored five points, grabbed a pair of rebounds, made a steal and registered an assist in eight minutes off the bench. 

Throughout the game, the Eagles used some bigger line-ups, and the size seemed to give the home side an advantage on the defensive end and on the glass. Eastern blocked six shots in the first half and held a 17-12 edge on the boards in the opening 20 minutes.

Eastern built the lead to 20 after a pair of possessions in the second half. Though the lead eroded to single digits late, the Devils were unable to get back within striking distance at any point.

"I'm pleased," said Eastern Head Coach Matt Nadelhoffer,  "We got back to enjoying playing. We were competing, and we reached our defensive goal. We are 10-0 when we hold teams to 58 or less." The Eagles held the Devils to 33% shooting and 4-16 three point shooting. 

Nelson joined Donatoni in double figures with 15. Adam Katz and Derek hall scored 11 each to pace FDU.

The win snaps a six game skid for the Eagles assures at least a .500 record for the season. Eastern will conclude the year with a home game against Delaware Valley College on Saturday. The team will recognize seniors Dan Miller, Paul Trusty, and Dave Christenson prior to the game.

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