ST. DAVIDS, Pa.– For the second game in a row, Eastern University Men's Basketball earned a tough home win over a team tied atop the MAC Freedom Standings. With a 71-68 come-from-behind win over the DeSales University Bulldogs (12-6, 5-2 MAC Freedom), the Eagles (11-7, 6-1MAC Freedom) moved into the top spot in the MAC Freedom standings at the midpoint of the season. Sophomore guard Draig Ruff delivered a game-changing performance with 17 of his game-high 21 points in the second half.

How It Happened:
Down 58-49 with eight and a half minutes to play, Ruff took over the game for a four-minute stretch. He attacked the rim for nine points in an 13-to-1 run. Victor Peña capped the run when he banked in a contested 10-footer for a 62-59 lead with five left.

While DeSales picked up some points at the foul line down the stretch, the Bulldogs scored just one basket in the final eight and a half minutes. Even so, they cut the Eastern lead to a point on a pair of free throws from Ben Pratt with 16 seconds left. The Eagles broke the press and Gabe Perez made a pair of free throws with nine seconds to play for a 71-68 lead. Pratt had a heavily contested look from behind the arc rim out just before the buzzer.

The Eagles trailed 38-30 at halftime. The Bulldogs held a 24-to-10 advantage on points in the paint after 20 minutes. The Eagles flipped that number in the second half finish with a 34-30 edge in inside points.

The two teams started out the game trading baskets. The Eagles briefly held a 19-15 edge on back-to-back 3-pointers from Terron Bacon, but Pratt answered with a 3-pointer to spark a 6-to-0 DeSales' run. Clifton Adams hit his only 3-point attempt of the first half for a 22-21 lead before the Bulldogs closed out the half on a 17-to-8 run.

William Blet had nine of his 11 points before halftime. The Eagles made just 11-of-28 shots (39.3 %) in the opening frame. Timmy Edwards had ten points to lead the Bulldogs.

The Eagles used back-to-back 3-pointers from Adams and Perez as part of a 12-2 run to start the second half, but the Bulldogs answered and built the nine-point edge to set up the heroics from Ruff.

Ruff added five rebounds, five assists, a steal, and a tremendous block in transition. All nine of his made field goals were at the rim. Michael Bowlers hit scored a pair of big baskets late and finished with ten points and seven rebounds. Peña scored nine points and had nine rebounds.

Edwards led DeSales with 18 points and 11 rebounds and Pratt had 14 points.

Coach Pruessner Says:
"Draig was awesome tonight. We had some guys really banged up and needed him to step up with a big game and he did more than that. I was really proud of the way our guys found a way to win. William and Victor both were question marks coming into today with injuries and both gave us great efforts. Vic was dominant on the glass in the second half. That's the leadership that this team has been showing all year."
"Terron Bacon gave us a spark and Cliff continues to control tempo and taking care of the ball. Mike has been an animal coming off the bench. He is shooting shooting so well from the floor right now but he also hit some big free throws."
"Our guys have really committed to defensive principles and it is showing. We were able to get stops we needed to turn the game against a top team today."
"This is a big win to get to the halfway point in first, but we are thinking we are 0-0 in the second half of the season. We have a tough match-up at Wilkes on Saturday."

Up Next:  
The Eagles will go north of the tunnel for their next two games. They will take on the Wilkes University Colonels  on Saturday and play at King's College next Wednesday.