RADNOR, Pa.—Eastern University Men's Basketball squared off against the No. 20 Cabrini College Cavaliers on Monday night in the annual Battle of Eagle Road. The Eagles climbed out of a double-digit hole and gave the Cavaliers a run for their money, pulling within four points late before ultimately falling 91-85.

Head coach Nate Stewart recognized that despite the loss, Eastern Men's Basketball, which features 9 new players, grew as a team by not giving up. “I'm proud of my young team,” he said. "Would I have liked to have come out on the winning side? Yes. Did we make some youthful mistakes down the stretch? Yes. There were several times where we could have quit. We kept battling and made it a game.”

Eagles junior swingman Malcolm Garrison led all players with 25 points on 10-of-19 shooting. “Every time we needed a big basket or a big play, he made it,” Stewart said. "He battled defensively; I couldn't take him out of the game.”

The Eagles had to play the majority of the contest without Shaquan Turk, their second leading scorer from last year, because of foul trouble. “It presented a challenge,” Stewart said. “The guys responded. We got great minutes from Jonathan Tolber and Anthony Parenti. Austin James made some big plays and then Malcolm Garrison carried us in the second half.” 

James recorded a double-double, netting 13 points and collecting 11 rebounds. Eagles' forward Tarek Hamzeh cashed in on five 3-pointers, all big shots in the second half to finish with 17 points. Coach Stewart noted that Hamzeh didn't have the best shooting game in Saturday's contest and missed a few contested threes in the first half Monday, but didn't let that hold him down. “It was good to see those go in,” he said. “He wasn't afraid of the moment."

 Point guards Austin Carroll and Anthony Concepcion added 13 and 11 points, respectively.

The Eagles had to deal with Cabrini's Aaron Walton-Moss, an All-American guard. Walton-Moss posted 16 first half points, but only scored four in the second half. Walton-Moss finished the game with a triple-double on 20 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists. Coach Stewart commented that with Walton-Moss, the goal isn't necessarily to guard him, it's to contain him. “You hope he doesn't go crazy on you,” he said. “He's a veteran player and he's savvy. We did a good job on him in the second half; we did what we could. We're not going to see anyone as good as Walton-Moss the rest of the way, thank God.”

The Cavs had four other players in double-figures: Jair Green (20), Tyheim Monroe (15), Vinny Walls (13) and Ivan Robinson (12). 

The Eagles briefly had the lead in the first half at 14-13 with 14:01 to play, but the Cavs took the lead and stretched it to as much as 17 points in the first half. A buzzer-beating 3-pointer by Carroll brought Eastern within 12 by halftime.

In the second half, Eastern chipped away at Cabrini's lead. Back-to-back 3-pointers by Hamzeh made it a six-point game with 12:47 remaining. With four minutes to go, Hamzeh started an 8-0 Eastern run with a layup, followed by a Concepcion 3-pointer and another Hamzeh trey. The Eagles had cut Cabrini's lead to 77-73 with 2:27 to go, but despite shooting 5-for-7 the remainder of the game, the Eagles were unable to catch the Cavs down the stretch.

Eastern (0-2) travels to nearby Rosemont College for an 8 p.m. game on Wednesday.

Box Score