MIAMI SHORES, Fla.– Eastern University Men's Basketball dropped a 77-60 decision to the University of Saint Joseph's Blue Jays on their final day of action at the Hoop MIA D3 Holiday Shootout. William Blet finished with 18 points and Victor Peña added 17.

How It Happened:
The Eagles fell behind early but scratched back to tie the score at 13-13 on an inside hoop from Peña with 13 minutes to play in the opening half. The pace of the game slowed and the Blue Jays ground their way to a 20-17 lead with five minutes to play in the half.

A 3-pointer from Peña with two minutes left closed the gap to 24-23, but the Blue Jays scored five straight for a 29-23 lead before Keshawm Sutton hit  a 3-pointer on a pass from Sam Gallardo. Saint Joseph's held a 31-28 lead at halftime. The Eagles shot 10-of-26 from the floor but made 6-of-7 from the foul line.

An 11-to-2 burst early in the second half put the Eagles under pressure. Clifton Adams hit a 3-pointer on a kick from Gabe Perez to stop the burst and pull the Eagles to within nine with fourteen minutes to play. The Blue Jays, however, had another burst. They stretched the lead to 18 with a 9-to-0 run over the next three minutes. 

While the Eagles were able to play even the rest of the way, they were unable to carve into the lead. Eastern made only 11-of-36 shots from the floor in the second half. The Eagles connected on only 4-of-17 from behind the arc in the contest. 

Jordan Powell led the Blue Jays with 26 points and eight rebounds. 

Coach Pruessner Says:
"It has been an exhausting few days here. Honestly, I feel good about where we are. We are getting good looks against good teams. We will continue to work on execution, but theses two games will help us as we head to January."

Up Next:
The Eagles head home for Christmas and will be back on the floor in St. Davids against Rowan on January 3.