CHESTER, Pa.– Eastern University Men's Basketball held off a late rally from the host Widener University Pride to claim an 89-82 MAC Commonwealth win. Jaron Fairweather posted a season-high 17 points to pace six Eastern players in double-figures. The Eagles (7-2, 2-0) connected on ten 3-pointers to claim their sixth-consecutive win.
After a strong start to the second half, the Eagles led by 18 with eleven minutes to play, but Widener changed defenses and closed the gap. The condensed defense and early fouling forced the Eagles to execute down the stretch. Terron Bacon, who scored 14 points off the bench, hit a huge 3-pointer late and made three free throws to help the Eagles hold off the charge late.
While the Pride (4-4, 0-3) shot 52 percent in the first half, the Eagles used a pair of decisive runs to erase an early deficit and forge a 46-37 lead at the break.
The game started at an absolutely frenetic pace and Widener went up 23-19 and forced an Eastern timeout.
Out of the timeout, Fairweather connected on a pull-up jumper from 18 feet, and William Blet turned away an inside chance with a block at the other end. Sam Gallardo then drove the lane and dropped a perfect pass to Draig Cooley for a left-handed dunk to tie the score at 23-23. Cooley then drew an offensive foul at the other end before finding Gallardo for a corner-three and a three point lead. After a scrambling possession resulted in a Widener inbounds play with ten on the shot clock, Cooley stole the inbounds pass.
The Eagles were unable to extend the lead on the next possession, but Fairweather pilfered a pass at mid-court and fed Kaeshawn Ward for a fast-break lay-up. And a five-point lead. The Pride made a basket to briefly stem the tide, but Fairweather buried a 3-pointer off a good kick-out pass from Ward. The Eastern lead grew to 33-26 after another Fairweather steal and pass to Josh Grant for a fast-break lay-up.
Despite the burst, the Pride regained connection and pulled to within a single point with four and a half minutes to play. Jairus Carroll converted a strong move to the middle of the court for a three-point play to spark a 10-0 run over a ninety-second stretch. Carroll finished the game with 15 points on 5-of-8 shooting.
Widener scored the only basket over the final two minutes of the first half. Nine different Eastern players scored and six players scored multiple baskets as the Eagles scored 46 first-half points despite attempting only six free throws. Carroll led all scorers with 11 at the intermission.
"First of all," Head Coach Dan Pruessner said after the game. "They are good. Don't be fooled by the fact that they are 0-3 in the league now, they are a good team. We won the game because of our defensive pressure and aggressiveness, but I think the game got close because of our defensive pressure and risk-taking."
"We need to play with the kind of pace and commitment to getting the ball that we played with tonight," he continued. " But we need to keep working on our discernment about when to try to swipe a ball. Some of their really good shooters got some really open shots because we gambled on a steal and missed. They hit a lot of threes to get back in the game in the final ten minutes. It is going to be a learning process and we are thankful to be able to have teachable moments in a win."
Blet scored 11 points and grabbed seven rebounds. The senior big man was credited with three blocks and also drew three offensive fouls in the game. Gallardo had ten points and Cooley finished with 11. The Eagles were 10-of-23 from behind the arc and shot 51.6 percent from the floor. After struggling from the foul line last weekend, the Eastern players made 15-of-21 (71.4 %).
Tonight's game was the first between the two programs since Eastern earned a 76-70 win in January of 2007.
The Eagles travel to Stevenson on Saturday for a final MAC Commonwealth test before exams. The Mustangs beat Eastern three times in last year's COVID-shortened season.
