CENTER VALLEY, Pa. - Eastern Men's Basketball comeback fell short as DeSales University defeated the Eagles 81-75 on Wednesday night. The Bulldogs recorded 20 offensive rebounds and scored 28 second-chance points to help secure the big MAC Freedom victory.  

"This is a tough one for sure," said Head Coach Eric McNelley. "We didn't do enough on the offensive or defensive end in this game, but yet we had a chance late to take a lead and try and hold on for the win late in the game." 

In the first neither team played particularly great. Eastern (9-9, 3-4 MAC Freedom) was able to establish a lead for a majority of the first half. After an 11-11 tie early in the half, the Eagles managed to build a five point lead at 16-11, but the Bulldogs (3-5, 5-2 MAC Freedom) never went away. 

With 7:27 left to play in the first half Eastern had managed to extend its lead to 27-20 after Austin Carroll hit a pair of free throws. However, the Bulldogs managed to close out the half on a 13-6 run including a 6-0 stretch to close out the half in the final three minutes of play to take a 35-33 lead into the locker room. 

Overall in the first half DeSales out-rebounded the Eagles 31-20 with 14 of those rebounds coming on the offensive end and leading to 16 second chance points. 

"That's a fundamental thing we work on every day," continued McNelley. "You can't be out hustled and out worked like that and expect to win games in this conference the competition is too good. We gave them second chances, and they capitalized on those give them credit."

In the second half, the Bulldogs were able to build a 13 point lead at 52-39 with just under 15 minutes left to play. The Eagles, however, were not phased and led by Turk and Malcolm Garrison climbed their way right back into the game. Eastern went on a 28-12 run to take a 67-66 lead with 5:28 left to play in the game. During the scoring run, Turk and Garrison combined to score 24 points.      

It was not meant to be, however, as after the game was tied at a 68-68 DeSales closed out the game on a 13-4 run going 10-0 at one point in the final 2 and a half minutes of the game. 

"We were right there in the end," said McNelley. "We battled all the way back but just couldn't close out the game in the end. It's unfortunate, but that's what happens when you don't do the little things right and have to make up a lot of ground. We learned a lesson tonight that the little details matter in the big picture."  

Turk finished as both the game's and Eastern's leading scorer with 29 points going 10-of-18 from the field shooting (.555) and 3-of-6 from 3-point range. Malcolm Garrison finished the night with 20 points. 

Four Bulldogs posted double-digit scoring in the game. Cody Deal led all DeSales players with 25 points and ten rebounds while Aaron Burton netted 17 points and recorded 15 rebounds.

"We have to get better and learn," concluded McNelley. "This is a learning process and until we learn we will keep seeing results like this. We have a tough opponent up next who we gave us a great game back in early December. We'll be ready just have to digest this one and move on as soon as we step off this bus."   

Eastern travels to Delaware Valley on January 30th for a 3 pm tipoff.