ST. DAVIDS, Pa.—Eastern University Men's Basketball improved to 2-2 after holding off the Neumann University Knights on Saturday afternoon 69-66.

The Eagles led by as many as 14 points, but Neumann caught Eastern at 49-49 with 11:21 remaining in the game. The lead changed hands six times from that point on, but Eastern took the lead for good with 42 seconds remaining on a Shaquan Turk layup. Turk scored the Eagles' final six points and led all players with 24 points on 10-of-16 shooting. Turk drew a foul with 14 seconds left and the Eagles up 68-66. He missed the first, but cashed in on the second to give Eastern the 69-66 advantage. Neumann drew up a play for a last-second 3-pointer, but Kevin Green's attempt to tie the game fell short.

Eastern and Neumann's records evened out at 2-2 after Saturday's result. 

Eagles' freshman forward Austin James netted 19 points going 6-for-9 overall, 3-for-4 from downtown, and 4-for-4 from the free throw line. "Austin did a good job in the first half of steading our offense,” said Eagles' head coach Nate Stewart. "He knocked a couple shots in and banked a 3-pointer in, which isn't exactly the way we drew it up, but I'll take it. He was ready to go."

James took a key charge in the paint with a minute remaining and the score tied at 66-66. The Eagles scored the go-ahead bucket on the resulting possession. Turk and James were the only Eagles to score in double-digits, but seven other Eagles contributed points. Point guard Austin Carroll added six assists and nine rebounds. Coach Stewart lauded Carroll's toughness in chasing down rebounds as a point guard.

Eastern's double-digit lead disappeared in part because of 12 second-half turnovers for the Eagles. 

 “We have to learn how to put teams away,” Stewart said. “We're still young and still working through some things. In the second half, Neumann did a good job making shots. We did a bad job of turning the ball over. We'll have to look at the tape, evaluate and get better moving forward.”

Last season, Eastern Men's Basketball had a 3-7 record in games decided by six points or less. The Eagles have two wins already in tight games in this young season. “I was proud of our guys for getting stops when we needed to get stops,” Stewart said. "We made a free throw at the end and that changed the outcome of the game. Every game is not going to be the way you want it to be ... it's not always going to be pretty.”

After three games this week against local opponents, the Eagles play just one game next week. They'll host Lancaster Bible College on Saturday at 3 p.m.

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