WILKES-BARRE, Pa.– When Jordan Johnson hit a tough right-handed lay-up to tie the game with 21 seconds left it looked as though the best Eastern University Men's Basketball could hope for would be overtime against the MAC Freedom-leading Wilkes University Colonels. As the Eagles had not led since the 13th minute of the game, overtime seemed like a pretty good option.

Overtime, however, never came. The Eagles made a stop at the defensive end, and Antonio Chapman buried his third 3-pointer of the game to lift the Eagles (15-10, 10-4 MAC Freedom) to a 69-66 win and the second seed in the MAC Freedom Tournament. Chapman scored 12 of his team-high 19 points in the final 4:07 of the game to help the Eagles erase a 60-51 deficit in that same timeframe.

The Colonels (19-6, 11-3 MAC Freedom) came into today's game with the top seed in the tournament secure, but the Eagles stood to finish in fourth with a loss. By virtue of their two wins over Wilkes, Eastern holds the tiebreaker over both Misericordia and DeSales, who both also finished 10-4 in the league, for the second seed. DeSales earned the third seed by point-differential in its games against Misericordia. Eastern will host DeSales at 7:00 PM on Wednesday.

Eastern trailed 34-33 at half, but the Colonels opened the up a quick six-point lead with a 9-4 burst to start the second. The Colonel lead swelled to 50-40 with 12 minutes left. The hosts kept the game at their pace and the lead. Sophomore guard Rob Pecorelli, who was nearly perfect in the first half with 5-of-7 shooting, connected on his sixth 3-pointer of the game with four and a half minutes to play for a 60-51 lead.

Chapman then grabbed the game. He scored on a tough drive and a 16-foot jumper on consecutive possessions. After a Wilkes 3-pointer, Victor Peña made the front end of a one-and-one and Gabe Perez grabbed the offensive rebound Chapman scored another layup to pull with in five with three minutes left.

Both teams had empty possessions and time seemed to be running out on the Eagles, but Chapman picked up an offensive rebound on his own miss and found Austin James for a 3-pointer with 1:22 on the clock. The shot from James hit the front rim and hung in the air for what seemed to be seconds before falling through to pull Eastern to within a basket at 63-61.

The Colonels had an answer. Mark Mullins scored inside and converted a three-point play to push their lead back to five. Chapman flared off a good screen from Gabe Perez and hit a long 3-pointer to pull the Eagles back to within a basket at 66-64.

"We emphasized getting consecutive stops down the stretch," Head Coach Eric McNelley said after the game.  "We were finally were able to do that. We made some key defensive adjustments to get back in the game, but had some tremendous contributions from nine guys our rotation. Game Perez provided a ton of energy and made some big plays at the defensive end."

After forcing a Wilkes turnover, the Eagles looked inside to try to draw level. Johnson, who was one of three players to finish the game with nine points, moved hard toward his favored left hand before spinning back to finish with his right.

Wilkes took a timeout and went to Pecorelli for a final look. Darius Washington put up a good challenge to the 15-footer and Chapman grabbed the rebound with just under six seconds on the clock.

"We talked in the last timeout about what to do after we get a stop," McNelley added. "We told the guys to push the ball down the floor quickly for a great look or call a timeout if contested. Chap got going downhill. I can't tell you how many times he has practiced that shot. That was a  great look and he buried it."

James was the only other Eastern player in double-figures. He was 3-of-6 from behind the arc and finished with 11 points. Peña and Washington each scored nine points and William Blet added eight. Peña grabbed a team-high nine rebounds.

Pecorelli led Wilkes with 22 points.

"This was a fantastic finish to a great season for our guys," McNelley concluded. "We are looking forward to a great crowd for our home playoff game on Wednesday."