ST. DAVIDS, Pa.– With a 75-63 home win over the third-seeded DeSales University Bulldogs, Eastern University Men's Basketball advanced to a conference championship game for the first time since the University joined NCAA Division III in 1992.
Draig Ruff scored 19 of his game-high 23 points in the first half and the Eagles held off a hot-shooting Bulldog team late to advance.
How It Happened:
To beat a team a third time is a tough task, and the Eagles needed to add some new wrinkles to their attack. With the Bulldogs protecting the inside, Eastern (17-9) started out on the perimeter. Their first six makes in the half-court offense came from behind the arc.
Clifton Adams had the first one, and then after Ruff scored a lay-up in transition after a steal, the sophomore guard scored the next 12 points on 3-pointers for the Eagles.
Even with Ruff hitting shots, the Bulldogs stayed close and only trailed 17-15 with 12 minutes to go.
Sam Gallardo then hit a 3-pointer on a skip pass from
Gabe Perez. The Bulldogs answered with an inside basket before
Terron Bacon drained a long two-point shot and Perez hit 2-of-3 free throws for a 24-17 lead halfway through the first half.
The Eagles scored their first inside basket in the half court on a drop-step dunk from
William Blet, and the lead grew to 28-19 when Victor Peña powered in an inside basket. Eastern built the lead to nine on three occasions, but only pushed it into double-digits on a second 3-pointer from Adams with a minute and a half left in the half.
The Bulldogs scored the final hoop of the half to close the gap to 38-30. The Eagles shot 14-of-28 from the floor and 7-of-14 from behind the arc before intermission. DeSales had a 12-to-10 edge on points in the paint and the Eagles took the only seven free throws of the first half. Ruff made 7-of-9 shots and grabbed three steals. Tracy Simsick led a balanced DeSales attack with eight points. The Bulldogs were 13-of-30 overall.
Eastern scored their first nine points of the second half in the paint. Blet, Ruff, Peña, and Adams all scored in tight and the lead grew to 15. At that point, the Bulldog offense went to the perimeter. Alex House made two 3-pointers and Mike Bealer made three and the visitors trimmed the Eastern lead to 57-49.
The two sides traded baskets and down just six, the Bulldogs forced Adams into a tough shot with the shot-clock nearing its end. Adams' shot did not draw iron, but Gallardo tipped it in before the horn.
That basket proved even more impotant when House answered at the other end with a long 3-pointer to pull the Bulldogs to within five with 2:40 to play. The defending champion Bulldogs refused to go quietly. DeSales has been to the MAC Freedom Championship game in each of the last three seasons, and they came out of a timeout needing a stop.
Peña would not be denied. The fifth-year senior missed under heavy pressure in close, but he grabbed his own rebound. He missed again and again snared the board before powering home his third attempt for a 68-61 lead with two minutes to play.
The Eagles split three sets of free throws after a Ben Pratt lay-up. Blet finally sealed the game with a thundering dunk on an alley-oop from Ruff with 40 seconds to play.
DeSales hit seven 3-pointers in the second half and made 13-of-26 shots. They did not grab a live-ball offensive rebound after halftime. The Eagles were 13-of-28 from the floor in the second half, but they had 10 offensive rebounds. House scored 14 of his team-high 17 after halftime. DeSales made six of the seven shots they attempted from inside the arc.
All eight Eastern players that saw the floor made at least one basket after halftime. Seven of them grabbed at least one defensive rebound.
Michael Bowlers, who did not score in the first half, made the only Eastern 3-pointer after halftime. He finished with seven points.
Adams and Blet each finished with 11 points.
Coach Pruessner Says:
"Draig put us on his shoulders early. They chose to take away the inside and they gave him a little extra space, and he made them pay from the perimeter."
"It's such a crazy game. We got back to who we are in the second half, and we had a bunch of different guys make big plays. Cliff has three steals in the second half that make a difference. Terron hit a couple important shots and Sam made plays. Vic and Mike did not get their normal scoring, but they got big baskets when we needed them and were great on the boards."
"DeSales kept coming, but we were able to close out the win. It was great to have a number of alumni and a great group of students in the gym for the game. This was a really good team win."
What it Means:
In their final year in the MAC Freedom, the Eagles break through to reach a Championship game. This is the seventh time the Men's Basketball team reached the post-season. The 17 wins ties a program high-water mark for NCAA Division III teams that was set in 2009.
The Eagles will travel back to Hoboken to take on the top-seeded Stevens Institute of Technology Ducks in the MAC Freedom Championship game on Saturday afternoon.
