ST.DAVIDS, Pa.– After claiming the Battle of Eagle Road sign for just the second time last year, Eastern University Men's Basketball ground out a tough 67-57 home win over Eagle Road rival Cabrini to keep the trophy on the south side of the street for another year. Michael Bowlers finished wtih 17 points and nine rebounds and William Blet scored 14 points and grabbed 11 rebounds to lead the Eagles. The Eagles had a 56-37 edge on the glass for the evening.

How It Happened:
With the capacity crowd on hand at the start, both teams struggled to find shooting range early. With Terron Bacon hitting a 3-pointer between a pair of inside hoops from Bowlers, the Eagles crawled to a 7-2 lead early. After a lay-up from Keith Blassingale to close the gape to 7-4, the Eagles used good ball movement and strong defense to stretch their edge to 20-8 at the midpoint of the half.

The Eastern lead stood at 28-17 with four minutes to play in the period before the Cavaliers went on a 9-0 run to close the half. Voshon Mack delivered the decisve blow of that run with a thundering two-handed dunk on the left baseline.

Desptine the run, the Eagles held a 28-26 lead at the break. Bowlers had 10 at half and Gabe Perez had six points and six rebounds off the bench. The Eagles had a 27-20 edge on the boards through 20 minutes. Mack led all scorers with 11 at the break.

Thought the Cavaliers (2-1) made some runs, the Eagles never trailed in the second half. After Draig Ruff and Mack traded baskets, Sam Gallardo found Clifton Adams for an open look at the three-point line for a 33-28 lead. After a Mack miss at the other end, Adams cleared the rebound and found Ruff in tranisition to stretch the lead to seven points. Adams grabbed 11 rebounds and had three assists. 

The Eastern lead grew to 42-32 on Gallardo's only basket of the game. The freshman from San Antonio buried a 3-pointer off a feed from Ruff. Gallardo had three assists and five rebounds to go with his three points.

The Eastern led grew to 11 on three occasions but never got bigger and the Cavaliers scored five points in a 15 second burst to come within four points at 58-54 with less than four mintues to play.

Blet then took over. The junior post player scored eight of the final nine Eastern points in the game. He got deep position and finished a pass from Ruff and then altered a shot at the other end. He hit a 12-foot turn-around off of good ball movement before he made a pair of free throws to push the lead back to 64-54. After Bowlers split a pair at the line, Blet hit his last two free throws to close out the game. 

The Eagles hit just 4-of-19 from behind the arc, but the Cavaliers did not fare better. They went 2-of-16. With Blet, Bowlers, and Ruff working primarily inside, the Eagles scored 40 points in the paint.

Ruff finsihed with 15 points, eight rebounds, five assists, three steals, and a block. Mack led the Cavaliers with 15 points and 15 rebounds. Blassingale was the only other Cavalier in double-figures. He scored 12 points on 4-of-19 shooting.

Coach Pruessner Says:
"It was another great environment tonight. Even though there were many mistakes throughout the night, I felt like our guys executed in many areas.  Our strength is in our front court and after Saturday the big fellas were itching to show their presence."

"Holding the lead for over 39 min of the game it was obvious that Cliff was orchestrating a great game from the point. He secured some huge rebounds and helped us to control tempo.  Blet showed his presence by protecting the paint on the defensive end."

"Sam Gallardo played big minutes for us off the bench tonight. He grabbed five rebounds and did really good work defensively.  Draig filled the stat sheet tonight and did what he does by grabbing huge offensive rebounds down the stretch."

"Overall, it was a solid effort. It's always good to claim Eagle Road."

Up Next:
The Eagles (1-1) travel to Fredericksburg, Va. where they will play in a tournament hosted by the University of Mary Washington. The Eagles will battle Washington and Lee on Saturday. On Sunday, they will play either the host Eagles or Merchant Marine.