ST. DAVIDS, Pa.--Eastern University Men's Basketball suffered a setback at home on Wednesday night, falling 90-77 to the DeSales University Bulldogs.

The Bulldogs shot a hot 57.7 percent from the floor for the game after scorching the nets in the first half at a 68.2 percent rate. Despite DeSales' hot hand in the first half, the Eagles were right with the Bulldogs, down by just one at halftime. After four ties and eight lead changes in the first half, DeSales pulled away little by little in the second half.

Eastern trailed by two points with 13:48 remaining, but DeSales then went on a 15-4 run capped off by a Cody Deal 3-pointer with exactly 10 minutes remaining. Down 13, the Eagles scuffled back to within five points at 4:12 on a 3-pointer by Malcolm Garrison. However, they were unable to get any closer. The Eagles missed seven shots in the paint in the final four minutes and were 4-for-13 overall down that final stretch.

Bulldog Brian Laird torched the Eagles with a career-high 26 points, cashing in on six 3-pointers. He also added six rebounds and four steals. Cody Deal contributed 20 points for DeSales on 8-of-14 shooting. DeSales forward Bryan Travis displayed his shot-blocking ability with five rejections, 

Eastern sophomore Shaquan Turk netted a team-high 22 points, his fifth 20-point game of the year. Turk shot 7-for-14 from the floor and went 8-for-10 from the free-throw line. He collected a team-high six rebounds.

Malcolm Garrison added 14 points and five rebounds. Austin James knocked down four 3-pointers for all 12 of his points. James hit two timely 3-pointers in the final minutes of the second half that erased a five-point DeSales lead and temporarily put Eastern up by one. Anthony Concepcion scored nine points and dealt six assists.

The Eagles shot a respectable 48.4 percent from the floor in the first half, but chilled to 33.3 percent in the second half. 

Eastern won in the turnover category, committing 12 while taking away 18.

Eastern sits at 3-4 in the Freedom Conference after the first go-around in 2014-15. The Eagles pick up the second round of conference play on Saturday at home versus Delaware Valley College at 3 p.m.

Box Score