SALEM, Va.--Eastern University Men's Basketball dropped the opening game of the Cregger Classic tournament to Swarthmore College on Friday.

The Eagles fell 73-65 to the Swarthmore Garnet in what proved to be a close game throughout.
Eastern led for 20 of the game's 40 minutes and were tied with Swarthmore for nearly another eight minutes.

Sophomore Shaquan Turk led the Eagles' scoring effort with 22 points, his third performance this season with 20 or more points. Turk came within a rebound of picking up his first double-double of the season and he also blocked two shots and made three steals.

Malcolm Garrison also contributed double-digit points for the Eagles, finishing with 12 points. He went 6-for-6 from the free-throw line.

The Garnet had three players in double-figures: Zack Yonda (22), Matt Brennan (15) and Robbie Walsh (13).

Eastern only committed eight turnovers in the loss, a season low, but were hampered by a poor shooting performance. The Eagles had their second-worst game this year from behind the arc, hitting 7-of-29 (24.1 percent) 3-pointers. Overall, the Eagles went 23-of-61 from the floor for a 37.7 percent day.

Swarthmore shot 46 percent from the floor, sinking just as many field goals as the Eagles. The Garnet took advantage of trips to the charity stripe and knocked down 24 free throws to Eastern's 12.

At halftime, the Eagles took two-point lead into the locker room. The Eagles battled for control of the lead through the first 10 minutes of the half and led by one point with 10:29 remaining. After Eastern's lead slipped away on the next Garnet possession, the Eagles caught the Garnet with 7:48 to go on an Austin James layup that tied the game at 55-55.

Swarthmore created some distance with a 9-2 run in the next three minutes.

A layup by Turk and two free throws by Garrison brought Eastern within three points with 3:08 remaining, but after a Swarthmore layup a minute later, the Eagles could not make it a one-basket game the rest of the way.

Eastern plays in the consolation game on Saturday at noon against SUNY New Paltz.

Box Score