TOWSON, Md.– When they were not eating turkey, or taking advantage of amazing shopping deals,  the players on the Eastern men's basketball team have spent their time over the last ten days thinking about defense. That focus paid off tonight as the Eagles held the host Goucher College Gophers to 27 percent shooting, and earned a comfortable 70-53 win.

The Eagles trailed 10-8 at the five-minute mark before grabbing control of the game with a steady 14-0 run over the next five minutes. Victor Peña capped the run with a three-point play after Marquise Peel had grabbed an offensive rebound. Led by a pair of 3-pointers from Austin Carroll, four different players scored in the run.

Goucher closed the gap to 22-18 before Eastern scored the final nine points of the half. Austin James and Tarek Hamzeh had 3-pointers in the final run. The Eagles shot only 36.7 percent in the first half, but they made six-of-11 from behind the arc and had seven players score in building a 31-18 lead. Goucher made only 6-of-25 shots. The Eagles gathered 16-of-20 available rebounds to limit the Gophers' ability to get second-chance points.

"This was a great team win tonight on the road." Head Coach Eric McNelley said after the game. "It was great to see our two guys from Maryland (Carroll and Peel) get a win in front of some of their family and friends. I am very proud of the defensive effort throughout the game."

Ever since dropping their second game of the year at home to Neumann, the Eagles have had defense preached to them daily. Today's defensive execution marked what McNelley and his staff feels is another step forward in the process for his team.

McNelley was pleased with the offensive execution in the second half. The Eagles played at a little quicker pace and broke the game open with a trio of 3-pointers in a 55-second span. Lincoln Holley started the run, Austin James connected 40 seconds later. After a Goucher miss in transition, Austin Duncan buried his lone long-range basket in transition for a 46-27 lead with 15 minutes left.

Goucher rallied to cut the Eastern lead to single digits for a possession, but Shaquan Turk and James took command of the offense late to keep the game safe. Turk had ten of his 16 points in the last seven minutes and James made a pair of 3-pointers in support. James finished the day 5-of-8 from behind the arc for a game-high 17 points. Peña joined Turk and James in double-figures with 12 points. Carroll had seven points, five assists, and a career-high nine assists.

Eastern shot 57.7 percent from the floor in the second half and four different players made 3-pointers. McNelley was also encouraged to see his group limit turnovers with the lead. Despite holding a lead for the entire second half, the Eagles finished with 15 giveaways.

Eastern hosts Hamilton College on Saturday at 3 pm.