WILKES-BARRE, Pa.– Eastern University Men's Basketball rallied from a nine-point second-half deficit and beat the host Wilkes University Colonels, 73-70, in overtime. Michael Bowlers scored five points, grabbed six rebounds, and took a critical charge in the extra frame. He finished the day with 16 points and 11 rebounds to help the Eagles (12-7, 7-1 MAC Freedom) to remain atop the MAC Freedom standings with their sixth-straight win.

How It Happened:
The Colonels (9-10, 2-6 MAC Freedom) shot a blistering 56.7 percent from the floor in the second half and built a 44-35 lead on a Mark Mullins lay-up with 13:29 to play in the game.

The Eagles chipped away at the lead and pulled within a point on several occasions, before finally tying the game at 62-62 when William Blet split a pair at the line with three minutes to play. Draig Ruff put the Eagles up 64-62 with a pair at the line before Drake Marshall tied the game at 64-64 with a jumper in the lane with two minutes to play.

While neither team would score again in regulation, that jump shot turned out to be the final field goal from the Colonels.

Bowlers took over the extra frame. the 6'8 senior picked up an offensive rebound and split a pair at the foul line to start the frame and grabbed a defensive rebound at the other end. On the next trip down the floor, Gabe Perez found Bowlers and the big man scored inside. Bowlers delivered another stick-back hoop for a 69-64 lead with three minutes to play.

The Eagles had chances to put the game away, but misses at the foul line and a key turnover gave the Colonels the ball down two with 17 seconds to play. Eastern changed defenses out of the Wilkes timeout and Bowlers came from the help side and got his feet out of the restricted area to take a charge.

After Clifton Adams split a pair at the line, the Eagles had another critical defensive possession up 73-70. This time, it was William Blet that took the charge. Two more missed free throws gave the Colonels a chance at a desperate heave, but it barely drew iron and despite their struggles from the foul line, the Eagles emerged with another critical road win.

Eastern finished 21-of-37 from the foul line and only shot 23-of-53 from the floor. Game Perez and Adams each made three 3-pointers and the Eagles shot 6-of-14 from behind the arc.

In his trip back to his home town, Ruff had 15 points, five rebounds and four assists. Adams had 14 points and Perez had 13 points. Victor Peña finished with a game-high 12 rebounds.

Rob Pecorelli was 10-of-10 from the foul line and finished with a game-high 25 points to lead the Colonels. The Eastern defense held him to 6-of-19 shooting in the game.

The Eagles sweep the season series after Wilkes eliminated Eastern in the MAC Freedom Semifinals last year.

Coach Pruessner Says:
"I feel like sometimes as a coach you just need to get out of the way. We don't dominate games but we are really learning how to grind games out. These guys are getting tougher every game. They are not scared to be down double digits. They just continue to play through it.

They can really dig in on the defensive end. I am proud of what they are doing. We still aren't playing our best basketball, and we know that. Mike sat the last 6 min of the game  and made a huge impact out of the gate in the overtime. He was not afraid to go to the line and hit 8-of-10. Cliff and Gabe combined to go 6-10 from the 3-point line. That's not easy when you don't take that many a game. We won the game with Mike and Blet both taking charges in the closing possessions.

This game had a lot of similarities to the Del Val game earlier in the year, but we have gained confidence that we can execute down the stretch.

Up Next:
The Eagles will complete the 'North of the Tunnel' triad with another trip to Wilkes-Barre to take on King's on Wednesday. The Eagles handled the Monarchs at home pretty easily, but King's has moved into the middle of the league table and are in need of a win against the top three to move into a playoff spot.