WILKES-BARRE, Pa.—Eastern University Men's Basketball ended
Wilkes University's undefeated conference season with a 68-55 win over the
Colonels on Wednesday night.
The Eagles (12-5, 5-2 Freedom) made a second half charge to
knock off the Freedom Conference leaders. The loss snapped a seven-game win
streak for the Colonels (13-4, 6-1).
Eastern coach Nate Stewart said that the road win went a
long way for the team's confidence as they head into the final stretch of
league play.
“Our guys bought into the game plan and executed it well,”
Stewart said. “It all started on the defensive end for us. We were able to get
stops, we rebounded the ball well, and we were able to get out in transition.
Everybody on the floor played well and made contributions.”
After shooting 37 percent in the first half, the Eagles shot
54.8 percent in the second half and held Wilkes to 31 percent shooting in the
second half. Coach Stewart said Eastern didn't do a good enough job moving the
ball in the first half and took too many quick shots.
Eastern controlled the boards, out-rebounding Wilkes
41-28. “For most of the game we
were limiting them to one shot and being done,” Stewart said.
Collin Whipple led all scorers with 19 points. “Collin made
some big shots down the stretch when they were trying to make a run,” Stewart
said. “He took two big charges, and Martin took a charge too. Collin steadied us
and played great defense on [Matt] Mullins, who was their leading scorer, and
held him below his average.”
Alex Nelson and Mike Donatoni scored 14 points each. Nelson
moved to within nine points of 1,000 over his three-year career.
Wilkes jumped on the scoreboard first to start the game, but
Eastern responded with an 11-2 run over the next three and a half minutes.
DeSales surged back and held 26-25 lead going into halftime.
Donatoni drained a deep 3-pointer to start the second half,
and Wilkes never regained the lead the rest of the game.
The lead grew to double-digits with 6:16 left when Whipple
sank a jump shot in the lane. The play before featured a half-court alley-oop
pass from Dan Werth that Alex Nelson finished, just one of Eastern's exciting
second half baskets.
Eastern takes on league opponent Manhattanville College on
Saturday at 3 pm. Eastern lost to Manhattanville 75-62 in November.
Box Score
