ST. DAVIDS, Pa.--Eastern University Men's Basketball gave the top team in the Freedom Conference a run for its money on Tuesday night but fell two points short of the upset.

The Eagles (9-15, 5-8 Freedom) fell to the Misericordia University Cougars (18-6, 10-3 Freedom) by a final score of 74-72. The ending to Tuesday's game bore some similarities to Saturday's loss at Manhattanville. Eastern took control of both games in the second half led by 37 points from Shaquan Turk and held a six-point lead with two minutes left. In both contests, the Eagles' opponent hit a big 3-pointer with just over a minute to go. This time it was Misericordia's Griffin Sponaugle knocking down a 3-pointer to cut Eastern's lead to one point with 1:08 to go. Sponaugle went 8-for-10 in the game, all from behind the perimeter to record a team-high 24 points.

After Eastern's Turk missed a contested layup on the other end, Cougars' Steve Ware made a layup, drew the foul and hit the resulting free throw to put Misericordia up 74-72 with 18 seconds to go.

The Eagles crossed halfcourt, called timeout and attempted one last play with 14 seconds to go. Misericordia's defense didn't allow any open looks on the final possession, double-teaming and recovering to pick up the free man effectively. Point guard Anthony Concepcion, with about three seconds left, split a double team with the dribble but couldn't get a clean shot off before time expired.

Turk, who led the Eagles again with 37 points, shot 15-for-24 from the field and 7-for-8 from the free-throw line. He collected 12 rebounds to earn the double-double and also had three blocks. Turk now has 10 straight games with 14 or more points.

The other Eagle in double-figures on Tuesday was Tarek Hamzeh who scored 10 points. Hamzeh also had five rebounds. Austin James added eight points and nine rebounds.

Eastern trailed by as many as nine points in the first half, but weathered the Cougars' 3-point downpour. The Cougars knocked down 10-of-12 3-pointers attempted in the first half (83.3 percent). The Eagles clawed away with three minutes left. With Cougars' rim-protector James Hawk temporarily subbed out of the game, the Eagles got a layup from Concepcion and two from Turk that pulled Eastern within one (39-38) with 1:20 left in the half. Hawk, a 6-foot-10 center, blocked five Eastern shots. Ware blocked another six shots and the Cougars blocked 14 in all. Ware had a layup with 18 seconds left that put Misericordia back up three at the half.

The Eagles finally caught the Cougars with 6:39 left on a 3-pointer by Austin James from the left wing that tied the score at 64-64. The Eagles' defense started getting some stops and kept the Cougars' scoreless for the next three minutes. Turk scored the next six Eastern points and provided an emphatic blocked shot. Up by six with 2:39 to go, the Eagles couldn't put the game away. The Eagles went 0-for-4 the rest of the way and weren't able to get a foul called in their favor to send anyone to the line.

Eastern wraps up the 2014-15 season on the road on Saturday at DeSales University at 3 p.m.

Box Score