PURCHASE, N.Y. – Eastern University Men's Basketball used a 25-to-11 second-half run to pull away to an important 88-77 MAC Freedom win at Manhattanville College. The Eagles (10-7, 4-2 MAC Freedom) put four players in double-figures on the way to their second road-win in the league. Michael Bowlers matched his career-high with 25 points.

How it Happened:
The Eagles went inside for a 48-36 halftime lead. Bowlers was 7-of-10 from the floor and a perfect 3-of-3 from the line for 17 first-half points. The junior forward also pulled down eight rebounds in the opening frame. As a group, the Eagles made 17-of-33 shots in the first half. The commitment to go inside, resulted in good looks from the perimeter and Eastern made 5-of-7 from distance.

A 9-to-0 run over a two-minute stretch late, broke open  one-possession game. Draig Ruff, who finished with a 14 points and 11 rebounds in his second career start, capped the burst with a 3-pointer from the right wing on a good skip pass from Darius Washington.

The 12-point halftime lead did not last. The Valiants, led by sophomore forward Sean Smith, closed the gap and tied the game at 58-58 with 12:30 on the clock. Smith scored his 21st point of the game to tie the contest. The Eastern defense held him scoreless in the half court the rest of the way. Smith finished with 23 points and 10 rebounds.

Seven Eastern players scored in the decisive run. The Eagles were 9-of-13 from the floor and 5-of-6 from the line over the nearly nine-minute stretch. William Blet capped the run on an inside hoop off a nice pass from Marquise Peel. The Valiants closed the gap to seven points before Washington and Ruff each made a pair of free throws to close out the game.

The Eagles finished 21-of-24 from the foul line. Bowlers was a perfect 5-for-5 and Austin Duncan made all six of his attempts. Washington finished with 17 points and Duncan added 16 points, nine rebounds and five assists.

Jojo Cobbs was the only Valiant other than Smith in double-figures.

Coach McNelley Says:

"We did a good job today sticking to our game plan today. It's extremely hard to win on the road in this league and today was no exception. We wanted to take advantage of our size advantage and get plenty of post touches in this game and we certainly did that. We also wanted to dominate the glass. We came away with a sizable advantage in that category."

"Michael had another good performance today and set the tone for us. William and Marquise also applied plenty of pressure on them and made good reads off of their defensive adjustments."

"Draig Ruff had another good game and tallied a double double while handling a majority of the minutes at PG. Duncan and Washington did what I expect them to do and hit several timely shots to keep Manhattanville honest with their post defense."

"We had too many turnovers down the stretch, but overall I'm extremely pleased with the performance. We can learn a lot from today and we will make adjustments to limit the mistakes moving forward."

Up Next:
The Eagles will have a short turnaround for another tough road test in the league. Eastern will travel to DeSales for a date against the unbeaten Bulldogs on Wednesday night.