ST. DAVIDS, Pa.– Eastern University Men's Basketball hit nine first-half 3-pointers and ran away to an 81-59 home win over the King's College Monarchs in the first MAC Freedom game of the year for both teams. Victor Peña led five Eagles in double-figures with 13 points and a game-high ten rebounds.

How It Happened:
The Eagles scored the first 11 points of the game and never looked back. The smaller Monarchs looked to take away the post, and the Eastern shooters feasted on the inside-out attack. Led by Clifton Adams with three long-range connections, five different Eastern players hit from deep in the opening half. Peña hit back-to-back 3-pointers around the mid-point of the half to push the Eastern edge to 12. King's was not able to close within single-digits the rest of the way.

Gabe Perez capped the first-half scoring on a 3-pointer to send Eastern to the locker room with a 40-17 lead. The Eagles shot 9-of-17 from deep and 13-of-27 overall. Though they turned the ball over nine times, they did grab six offensive rebounds and  record assists on nine baskets.

The Eagles started the second half looking inside to Peña and Michael Bowlers and the Eastern lead grew to 36 halfway through the second half. The Monarchs hit six of their nine three-pointers in the final 11 minutes of the game to close the gap down the stretch.

Adams scored all 12 of his points from behind the arc and the Eagles welcomed Terron Bacon back to the floor after a tough early-season injury. The junior guard hit a pair of 3-pointers and finished with eight points in his first action since the second weekend of the season. William Blet and Draig Ruff each had 11 and Bowlers finished with ten. Blet had four blocked shots and Ruff added two. Gabe Perez made three 3-pointers and finished with a team-high six assists.

Brad Kalinowski led King's with 14 points.

Coach Pruessner Says:
"With five guys in double figures and two more guys that were a bucket away from double digits, I don't think we could have asked for a more well-balanced performance to start off the conference season. The guys shared the ball as well. I love to see 20 assists on 30 made baskets.  These guys are starting to trust each other more every time they step on the floor.  Cliff Adams shot the ball well tonight with four threes, but I thought what he did as a floor general was even more impressive. This is the second game where we have executed really well at the defensive end of the floor.  Our Captains (Vic and Cliff) really did a great job leading us and setting the tone on both sides.  It is great to have Terron back to help us stretch the floor. That will be important as we move through the grind of the MAC Freedom schedule.  Delaware Valley is always a tough place to play."

Up Next:
The Eagles (6-6, 1-0 MAC Freedom) travel to Doylestown on Saturday to take on the Delaware Valley University Aggies in a crucial MAC Freedom test. The Aggies won both games in the series last year and  have won the last five meetings at DelVal. The Aggies dropped their league-opener at Stevens Institute of Technology tonight.