ST. DAVIDS, Pa.– Eastern University Men's Basketball (11-7, 6-1 MAC Freedom) used a 30-0 advantage in Bench points and stellar 3-point shooting to claim a convincing 84-62 home win over the visiting Delaware Valley Aggies (10-8, 5-2 MAC Freedom). Austin James scored a team-high 18 points to lead the Eagles to their sixth-straight win. The two teams entered tonight's game tied atop the MAC Freedom standings. 

The two teams traded baskets early before the Eagles used a 21-7 run to pull ahead 36-21 with six and a half minutes to play. Shaquan Turk scored the first seven points of the run, and James capped the run with a three pointer on a good ball-reversal pass from Abraham Kurnick. 

"We got really good production from our fours tonight," Head Coach Eric McNelley said after the game. "Lincoln [Holley] only missed one shot and did a real nice job defensively, and Abraham had a couple baskets in that early run and made very good decisions moving the ball."

Turk came into the game with 1498 career points. He reached the 1500-point plateau early and had nine points at halftime. He finished the game with 16 points on nine shots from the floor. 

Down 15, the Aggies started to piece together a run, they cut the deficit to 41-34 on a 3-pointer from Tyliek Kimbrough and had the ball for what appeared to be the final possession of the first half. Holley turned away an inside attempt and Austin Carroll threw a long outlet. James caught the ball took one big step and laid the ball in to put the Eagles up nine at the half. 

"That run-out play was huge," McNelley said after the game. "They had really picked up momentum, and there is a huge difference being up nine versus seven or even five. It was a nice pass from Ace, and James did a nice job on the finish."

The Eagles were 7-of-9 from 3-point range in the first half. Five different players hit shots from distance. The Aggies were only 2-of-9 from long-range.

Austin Duncan scored the first basket of the second half to put the Eagles up 11. The Aggies answered to close the gap to 45-36. Turk then scored in traffic and then hit a 3-pointer to push the Eastern lead to 14. Delaware Valley never pulled within 12 points again the rest of the way. 

"We are starting to find our identity on defense," McNelley noted. "We are doing a better job at keeping ball pressure and contesting shots in both our man and zone defenses, and in the second half we were much better on the defensive glass, which kept them from getting second-chance points."

McNelly was very pleased with the production James brought to the game after Duncan picked up early fouls. 

"Austin [James] saw balls going in." McNelley said. "When that happens, and he gets full-confidence back. We are a much better team. He hit a couple threes in transition and really allowed that confidence to translate into good play on the glass and on defense."

The Eagles out-rebounded Delaware Valley 26-14 in hte second half. The Aggies made only 2-of-15 shots from behind the arc.

The six-game winning streak is the first since Eastern joined NCAA Division III competition in 1992. The Eagles are a full game up on Delaware Valley and everyone else in the league has at least three losses, but McNelley is adamant about not getting too excited about a lead at the midpoint. 

"It's great to be on a good streak," McNelley added, "but our next two games are against a senior-laden DeSales team that beat us by almost 40 at their place and at a Misericordia- they have all their guns back and they are torching people now. We have a lot of work to do."

Lincoln Holley and Victor Peña joined Turk and James in double-figures. Holley was 6-of-7 from the floor and grabbed six rebounds. Peña had ten points and five rebounds. Carroll had seven points, seven rebounds, and six assists. Tyrea Williams had a game-high 21 to lead the Aggies and Alex Matsinye added 19. 

Eastern will host DeSales at 3 pm on Saturday.