ST. DAVIDS, Pa.– Eastern University Men's Basketball shot 12-of-18 from behind the arc in the first half and led by double-figures for the final 30 minutes of the game in an 88-75 win over the visiting King's College Monarchs (5-8, 1-1 MAC Freedom). Austin James hit 5-of-7 from behind the arc to lead the Eagles with a career-high 23 points.

Four Eastern players combined to hit eight 3-pointers in a 30-to-7 run over a seven and a half minute stretch in the first half to pull away to a 35-17 lead with eight minutes left in the first half. James, Darius Washington, Austin Duncan, and Antonio Chapman each hit a pair of 3-pointers in the run.

"We knew, with our size advantage, that they were going to double and triple our the post touches." Head Coach Eric McNelley said after the game. "We told our shooters to have their feet set and to be ready. We have five capable shooters who can keep teams honest when they choose to collapse that deep on our post players."

The Monarchs cut the Eastern lead to 11 once and 12 on two occasions, but each time Eastern answered with a long-range effort. Clifton Adams hit the first one on a pass from Duncan, and then James hit two in the final minute. Tis final shot came in transition on a  good pass from Adams as time expired. Eastern (7-6, 2-0 MAC Freedom) led 49-34 at half.

James had 17 points, four rebounds and three assists at halftime. Every Eastern player that attempted a 3-pointer hit at least one. The Eagles were 6-of-9 from inside the arc and had four offensive rebounds.

The Monarchs cut the deficit to nine for a single possession in the second half before Washington made a layup to spark a 22-to-7 Eastern run to put the game out of reach. Victor Peña played a critical role in ending Monarch possessions with his work on the glass and protecting the rim. The junior forward finished the game with 11 points, 16 rebounds and four blocked shots.

"Victor did a good job keeping his composure against their physical attention." McNelley said. "He dominated on the glass and contested shots throughout. Though he did not get a lot of shot attempts, he played like the all-conference player that he is." He was 4-of-5 from the floor, and he followed his only miss with a put-back.

The Monarchs scratched and clawed their way to within 11 with 20 seconds left, but James hit a pair of free throws to cap the Eastern scoring and close out the game.

"It was the first 20 point game of his career," McNelley said of his senior guard. "Which is kind of a surprise considering how talented a shooter he is, but it shows how he is a team player who is committed to getting guys involved and doing his job. He did a great job on [Connor] Callejas at the other end." Colleges came into today's game leading the MAC Freedom scoring 18.5 points per game, he finished with 12 points but scored seven of those in the final two minutes of the game.

Eastern shot 68.9 percent from the floor, and held a commanding 37-22 edge on the glass, but struggled to a 14-of-24 performance from the foul line and had 18 second-half turnovers. King's made just 24-of-70 (34.3%) from the floor.

Chapman finished with 15 points, Duncan had 14, and Washington had 13. Chris Fazzini led the Monarchs with 13 points.

"We have a very tough week coming up." McNelley concluded.  "We need to have a great week of preparation to get ready to take on the other two teams without a loss in the league."

Eastern will play at Misericordia on Wednesday and will host Wilkes on Saturday.