SALEM, Va.– Eastern University Men's Basketball wore white un forms, but it was not a home game. The Eagles dropped an 85-60 decision at Roanoke in the opening game of the Dick Leftwich TIp-Off Tournament. The host Maroons (1-0) pieced together a 34-13 run in the first half and held that lead through to the finish.

The Eagles (1-1)  found success working the ball inside, but foul trouble limited William Blet to 19 minutes. He scored 11 points, grabbed five rebounds, and blocked a shot,

The Maroons, playing their first game of the year, handled the Eastern pressure and had only seven first-half turnovers and forced the Eagles into 15 miscues. Roanoke junior Kasey Draper scored most of his game-high 25 points before the intermission.

The Eagles started the second half with a short burst, but the hosts called a quick timeout and kept the lead above 20 throughout.

Eastern made only 3-of-13 from behind the arc and made just above 50 percent from the foul line. The Maroons hit 5-of-12 from behind the arc.

"We had foul trouble, and they played way harder than we did," Head Coach Dan Pruessner said after the game. "It was a great learning experience to go up against a legitimate top-25 team. We don't have a lot of time to recover, so the big question is whether we can learn from it.  We did not hit the shots we will need to hit to win games and we had moments where we weren't disciplined enough. We know we need to get better."

Things will not get easier for the Eagles tomorrow. They will take on the Christopher Newport University Captains (2-1) at 1:00 tomorrow. CNU dropped an 86-83 decision to Marietta in the late game.