WILKES-BARRE, Pa.--Thirteen minutes into Wednesday night's game at Wilkes University, the score looked bleak for Eastern University Men's Basketball. The Eastern Eagles trailed by 16 points, 34-18. However, the Eagles clawed their way back into the game by halftime and eventually completed the comeback, winning 81-71.

For the Eagles, grinding out a comeback win couldn't have come at a better time. Eastern had lost three frustrating conference games in a row entering Wednesday night. "This was a big all-around game for us," Eagles' head coach Nate Stewart said. "It definitely reassured the team that we can go out there and get the job done. It was great for us to gut it out defensively and see that we can get stops. And this keeps us alive in the playoff hunt."

With the win, Eastern improves to 4-5 in the Freedom Conference.

Down by 16 points in the first half, coach Stewart attributed the turnaround in part to Eastern being able to slow down Wilkes' offense and force them to play in halfcourt situations. "They were killing us in transition," he said. "We had to take better shots and not get in a shootout with them. Once we got Wilkes contained in their halfcourt, our ball pressure was huge and we were able to dictate the game better."

Eastern chipped away at that 16-point deficit in large part thanks to 10 points from sophomore Shaquan Turk in the final three minutes of the first half. Turk led all scorers with 25 points. Eight of his points came from the floor, the rest came on an outstanding 17-for-18 performance from the free-throw line. Turk knocked down his first 13 free throws in a row.

Stewart commented that Turk was being played tightly but he remained aggressive and continued to drive to the paint. "Those free throws were huge," he said. "We needed every point."

Junior forward Malcolm Garrison sent the Eagles into the locker room on a high note. Teammate Jonathan Tolber made a steal then found Garrison for a fade-away buzzer-beating 3-pointer that drew Eastern within three points, 42-39, at halftime. Garrison scored 13 in the first half and ended the night with 18.

The Eagles started the second half with a basket by Anthony Parenti and thentook the lead 43-42 with a pair of free throws from Austin Carroll at 18:31. Carroll finished with 10 points.

After brief dry spells for both teams, the Eagles got a boost from Tarek Hamzeh. Hampered by foul trouble in the first half, Hamzeh provided a surge with seven straight points for the Eagles over a two-minute span in the second half. Hamzeh, known for his 3-point shooting, knocked down a trey and then burnt his defender for two baskets inside. Hamzeh's basket with 10:03 to go put Eastern up 56-53.

Neither team could find much separation over the next seven minutes. Garrison hit a jumper with 3:16 left that put Eastern ahead 69-67.

Eastern locked down defensively in the final three minutes; Wilkes' only points the rest of the way were on two meaningless layups that came with less than 20 seconds to go.

Turk set up to take a charge that ended up being called a loose ball foul on Wilkes with 1:40 left. Stewart said that that defensive stop sealed the game for the Eagles. Turk was awarded an one-and-one; he made the first to put Eastern up five (and then tallied his only miss). 

The Eagles were then able to hit their free throws down the stretch to secure the victory.

Eastern hosts FDU-Florham, a team gunning for its first conference win of the year, at 3 p.m. on Saturday.

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