MADISON, N.J. – Eastern University Men's Basketball overcame a game-long 3-point barrage from the hosts and escaped with a 77-73 MAC Freedom win at FDU-Florham. Victor Peña led five Eagles in double figures with 16 points and 15 rebounds.

How It Happened:
The Eagles (7-7, 2-1 MAC Freedom) started overtime with a 10-3 burst. Peña had the first basket of the extra frame and grabbed four rebounds to help the Eagles to earn the important road win. Michael Bowlers scored four of his 12 points in the five minute extra-frame. Draig Ruff hit a tough shot with two seconds left on the shot clock to extend a three-point lead to five with forty seconds left. The sophomore guard also hit a pair of free throws to ice the game in the final seconds.

Throughout the game. had the advantage inside, but another slow start from the perimeter put the Eagles behind as the Devils built a six-point edge midway through the first half. Eastern led for a blink early and grabbed a lead with five minutes left in the first half on a 3-pointer from Gabe Perez. Perez, who finished the game with 14 points, led the balanced Eastern attack with eight points at intermission. Seven Eastern players scored at least three points on the way to a 36-31 halftime lead.

The Devils (6-8, 1-2 MAC Freedom) hit 7-of-18 from behind the arc. Kenneth LaRocca had 11 of his game-high 26.

The Eagles held the lead and built it to 56-46 on a three-point play from William Blet with seven and a half minutes to go in the game. That lead, however, graded quickly as the Devils got back-to-back 3-pointers from Andy Fleurantin.

Though the Eagles still found success when they could settle the offense and get inside, as the game wound down, the Devils were able to spread the floor and find an open 3-pointer. While they did miss some, they found enough success to turn a five-point Eastern lead into a 610-60 FDU advantage in less than a minute. LaRocca made four second-half three pointers and the Devils had four players hit at least three shots from behind the arc.

After the teams traded the lead, Peña muscled home an inside hoop and made the free throw to put the Eagles up 65-63 with just over a minute left in regulation. The Eagles earned a stop, but a turnover late in the shot clock gave FDU a chance to tie the game in transition. Fleurantin scored with twenty seconds on the clock to tie the game.

The Eagles had two looks at the basket in the final 14 seconds, but could not get either to fall.

Ruff had 15 points and Blet had 11 points, seven rebounds and a pair of blocks off the bench. Fleurantin had 18 and Oliver Ortman had 16. The Eastern bench outscored the Devil reserves 18-to-2 and Eastern had a 50-to-10 edge in points in the paint.

Peña is at 980 points for his career.

Coach Pruessner says:
"Every win on the road in this league is a big win. Fifty points in the paint is a really good number. It's kind of a funny game, because we were who we are and they were who they are and we were able to get the win."

"We came into the game hoping to hold them to 11 [3-pointers]. They hit 17. Gabe played a good game defensively Ortman, but their number 11 made up for it. When Cliff picked up his third foul early, I thought Terron Bacon did a good job closing out the first half at the point. He did not score a lot, but we were able to get the ball where it needed to be and grab the lead. Cliff had a steal and score in a huge moment in overtime."

"Vic took over the game late. The numbers tell part of the story, but his presence on offense helps everyone to get shots. This is an important win for our guys."


Up Next:
The Eagles host the Wilkes University Colonels on Friday at 7 pm. That game, a rematch of last-year's MAC Freedom Semifinal game, was originally scheduled for Saturday, but with expected bad weather, it will be played Friday. The Colonels (8-6, 1-2) beat Stevens Tech last week but fell at home to DeSales this evening.