ST. DAVIDS, Pa. - Eastern Men's Basketball used a 17-0 run in the opening seven minutes of the game to help cruise to an easy 96-62 win over visiting Misericordia on Friday night. The Eagles went 37-of-69 from the field shooting (.536) as a team in the victory. 

"The guys did a great job with the short turnaround," said Head Coach Eric McNelley. "They played hard on both ends of the floor and were focused not to have a letdown in the second half."

After Shaquan Turk opened the game with a layup less than 30 seconds into the game Eastern (9-8, 3-3 MAC Freedom) hit back-to-back-to-back 3-pointers, two by Malcolm Garrison, before Turk hit another layup to make it a 13-0 lead. Misericordia (9-8, 3-3 MAC Freedom) didn't get on the scoreboard until Darren Davy hit a pair of free throws at the 12:28 mark to make it 17-2. 

The Cougars managed to get back in the game cutting the Eastern lead to just 24-15 with just under eight minutes left to play in the half. The Eagles, however, had an answer with a 24-12 run to close out the first half over the final seven minutes of play. The run was sparked by an Austin James 3-pointer and capped off by an Anthony Concepcion 3-pointer. During the run in the final seven minutes of the first half, Eastern hit three 3-pointers and went 9-of 13 from the field shooting (.692).

Overall in the first half, the Eagles shot 19-of-33 from the field shooting (.576). Garrison scored 18 points in the half going 7-of-12 from the field shooting (.583) and 3-of-7 from 3-point range. 

"I was really happy for our guys," continued McNelley. "We have made it a point to have fun the rest of the season. I think we have come into the last two games loose, and it's helped us find our rhythm shooting the ball."

In the second half, the Cougars got as close as 18 points at one point, but the Eagles offense was just too much for them. Eastern never led by anything less than 20 points from the 12:31 mark forward after Turk netted yet another layup. A 3-pointer by Darius Washington with just over five and a half minutes to play stretched the lead to 32 at, 84-52. Washington hit another 3-pointer just moments later to extend the lead to 35. Brennan Kastens capped off the prolific offensive night for the Eagles hitting a layup with just 15 seconds left to play to score his first varsity points in his first game. 

Eastern finished the game 37-of-69 from the field and 14-of-34 from 3-point range shooting (.412). The Eagles also got 38 points from their bench in the win.

"We have talented players up and down our roster," said McNelley. "I have confidence in each and every one of them. Players like Darius Washington, Austin Duncan, and Brennan Kastens will be very good players for our program for years to come. They practice extremely hard for us and battle our rotation guys on a daily basis. I was happy they got some extended minutes tonight."

Garrison finished the game scoring 24 points and recording five rebounds while Turk tallied his fourth double-double of the season and third in the last four games scoring 17 points and totaling 12 rebounds. Every Eastern scored in the victory. 

Jason Kenny led all Misericordia scorers with 12 points while Erik Kerns rounded out the double-digit scoring with 11. 

"We will enjoy the weekend off and get back to work on Monday, concluded McNelley. "We are 3-3 in conference and need to focus on one game at a time." 

Eastern travels to DeSales on January 27th for an 8 pm tipoff.