ST. DAVIDS, Pa.- Eastern University Men's Basketball overcame a nine point halftime deficit to top King's College 70-67. Malcolm Garrison scored 20 of his game-high 22 points in the second half.

The Eastern staff elected to go with a new starting line-up to reward players who have been performing in practice. The Eagles came out with great energy at the defensive end of the floor.  Eastern built an 8-2 lead early and was up 16-10 midway through the period. The Monarchs (6-9, 1-3 Freedom) responded with a 22-to-6 run over the next six minutes to grab a 32-22 lead. The two teams traded points the rest of the way and King's led 36-27 at the break.

Monarch guard Matt Fiorino sparked his squad with 10 first-half points. Anthony Parenti led the way for the Eagles with eight. 

Though the Eastern offense picked up in the early moments of the second half, the Monarch lead was still nine with 15 minutes to play. The Eagles, sparked by a pair of freshmen, put together a 9-0 run. Tyler McGrath hit a baseline jumper and converted a 3-point play, and Garrison converted a steal into an easy layup to tie the game with twelve minutes to play.

"I thought Tyler [McGrath] did a great job in his first start," Head Coach Nate Stewart said after the game, "He has been showing well in practice and he came through with eight and eight for us in a win. Malcolm made some huge plays in the second half as well." 

King's then scored five straight and seemed to be on the verge of reasserting control over the game, but Garrison hit a three pointer and Parenti tied the score again at 51-51 with a pair of free throws.

When the Monarchs again pulled out to a five point lead, the Eagles seemed unfazed. Dan Werth made a great steal in the corner and threw a deep pass that Joe Flacco would have been proud of to Garrison for a layup. McGrath then split a pair at the line and Ben Connor made two foul shots to tie the score.  

In 2009, Eastern won a game at King's without attempting a free throw. The story on this day also involved the foul line, but from a much different angle. The Eagles, led by Anthony Parenti's 7-of-8 effort, converted 22-of-30 from the line. The Monarchs, meanwhile, converted on just nine free throws in 20 attempts.Eastern made its final seven foul shots.

Dan Werth gave the Eagles a 59-57 lead on a nice kick-out pass from Anthony Bertolino, but Fiorino responded with a deep three to put the Monarchs back up with 2:54 to play. Garrison again had the answer with his final 3-pointer of the day. He finished 4-of-8 from behind the arc and became the first Eastern player this year to lead the team in scoring on three straight games.

King's tied the game on the next possession, but back-to-back scores from Garrison and Parenti put the Eagles up four with 23 ticks on the clock. Parenti made four straight free throws and came up with a steal down the stretch to keep the game safe.

"This was a great team win for us, Stewart commented, "guys came into the game and did what they were supposed to do and the effort was there. Our young guys grew up a little today."

Parenti finished with 18 points, and Dan Werth had 11 points. Fiorino led the Monarchs with 16 points.

The Eagles (3-12, 1-3) travel to Madison, N.J. to take on FDU-Florham on Wednesday

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