CENTER VALLEY, Pa.--Eastern University Men's Basketball committed just five turnovers in a 80-75 road win over the DeSales University Bulldogs Saturday afternoon.
The Eagles (11-5, 4-2 Freedom), earned their first win at DeSales since the 1988-1989 season. Coach Stewart named the lack of turnovers as the biggest key to winning the road game. "We lost last week (on the road) and we had 18 turnovers," he said. "We win this week and we had five. If we're going to be contenders in this league and make a push to win a championship, we've got to win games on the road."
The Eagles lead the league with the lowest turnover average (12.8 per game) and had only given up the ball two times at the half.
Three players carried the Eagles offensively. Alex Nelson led all scorers with 24 points, Mike Donatoni finished with 22 points and Collin Whipple had 16 points to go with his seven assists. These players each picked up the offense at different times. "Whipple sustained us in the first half when we were struggling," Stewart said. "Alex hit a couple big key shots, and Mike finished them off by making free throws."
Whipple scored 14 of his 16 points in the first half. Alex Nelson, who only had four points at halftime while shooting 2-for-9, suddenly ignited in the second half. His 20 second half points were sparked by a one minute and twenty-three second stretch where he knocked down eight points. With the 24 points, Nelson now needs just 23 points to join teammate Martin Soaries in the 1,000-point club.
As Coach Stewart mentioned, Donatoni again provided the foul shots needed to end the game in Eastern's favor. Donatoni shot a perfect 8-for-8 from the line (all in the second half) and also nailed four 3-pointers.
The Eagles trailed by as many as nine points in the first half after DeSales started by shooting nearly 80 percent from the floor. A nice feed from Collin Whipple to Dan Werth for the lay-in with 8:08 left in the first half started the Eagles' 14-0 run. The Eagles closed out the half up by seven and held a 12-point lead twice in the second half.
The Bulldogs, however, shot 56 percent in the second half (compared to the Eagles' 39.3 percent) and cut the lead to three with two minutes left. With 1:50 to go, Donatoni snagged a long defensive rebound, drew the foul on the fastbreak, sank both free throws and put the game practically out of reach.
The Eagles face perhaps their toughest road challenge of the season when they play at Wilkes University on Wednesday. The Freedom-leading Colonels are 6-0 in the league.
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