ST. DAVIDS, Pa.– Eastern University Men's Basketball used a 17-to-3 run over a four-minute stretch in the second half to break a 66-66 tie against the visiting Wilkes University Colonels. The Eagles held on to win 91-76 and hand the Colonels (10-5, 3-1 MAC Freedom) their first loss in league play.

The Eagles (8-7, 3-1 MAC Freedom) jumped to an early 21-8 lead with torrid 3-point shooting. Antonio Chapman made  pair of long-range efforts around  Darius Washington 3-pointer. Austin James capped the early burst with three 3-pointers in a 50-second span.

That lead eventually grew to 14 points as the Eagles led 34-20, but the Colonels cut into the deficit with multiple trips to the foul line. The Colonels made only eight first-half field goals, but Eastern led only 39-35 at the break as Wilkes made 16-of-19 from the foul line.

After the Eagles built the lead to seven on another Darius Washington 3-pointer, but the Colonels took advantage of a stretch of turnovers to flip the game and grab a 51-49 edge. The two teams traded baskets until the decisive Eastern run started with just over eight minutes to play.

Antonio Chapman, who scored 14 of his team-high 21 points in the second half, started the run with a 3-pointer late in the shot clock. After Mark Mullins split a pair of free throws for the Colonels, James found a cutting Jordan Johnson for a lay-up. Johnson was fouled and made the free throw for a 72-67 lead. Johnson was 6-of-7 from the floor and helped the Eagles to hold a 22-to-8 advantage in bench scoring.

Wilkes had three chances to close the deficit, but the Eagles had a pair of stops at the defensive end and Austin Duncan picked off an outlet pass on their third possession and scored to put the Eagles up 74-67 to force a Wilkes timeout.

"I thought Duncan had three consecutive defensive possessions that help change the game in our favor," Head Coach Eric McNelley said after the game. "I thought we did a great job defensively finding Robinson and Evans and  contesting their shots all game. Both are very good players but our guards stepped up to the challenge."

With momentum on their side, the Eagles earned another stop and Chapman gave the Eagles a double-digit lead on his fifth 3-pointer of the game. Mullins, who led Wilkes with a game high 24 points, pulled the Colonels with eight for a brief moment before Victor Peña had a pair of stellar plays to keep the Eastern momentum going. The first came out of the post. Peña drew a double team and delivered a perfect no-look bounce pass to Johnson for an open lay-up. Peña then made a steal at the other end and completed a 2-on-1 break with a  nifty step-through move.

McNelley noted that while teams are doubling Peña on the catch, that the Eagles are doing a better job of finding cutters in the paint and being ready to shoot on the perimeter.

After Johnson finished the run with another run-out, the Colonels never pulled within single-digits again.

Led by Chapman and Washington with five each, the Eagles made 14 3-pointers on only 24 attempts. Washington finished with 21 points, and James and Johnson each had 13.

Wilkes was 28-of-36 from the foul line but made only 6-of-23 from behind the arc.

" This was a great team effort this afternoon." McNelley continued "Coach Metz and his staff have turned that squad into one that will be hard to beat in our league. They are well-balanced and share the ball extremely well. I thought our guys kept their composure when Wilkes made their runs in the game."

The Eagles who are now 5-1 at home this year, will go on the road for three of their next four games. They will play at FDU-Florham on Wednesday before hosting Manhattanville next Saturday.