READING, Pa.– Despite giving away, inches, pounds, and experience at nearly every spot on the floor, Eastern University Men's Basketball pushed the host Albright College Lions (3-2, 2-1 MAC Commonwealth) to the limit, before falling, 78-72, in a game rescheduled from the beginning of the year. First year guards Joshua Grant and Kaeshawn Ward each shot 7-of 10 from the floor. Grant finished with a  game-high 16 points, and Ward had 15 points and six steals.

After Friday night's game at Stevenson, Head Coach Dan Pruessner went into this week convinced that his squad needed to be better on the defensive end and had to commit to the offensive principles they had been working on since early in the school year. With that, he inserted sophomore forward Sasha Lut into the starting line-up to give his guard-heavy rotation a post player to play off in the offense. Lut finished with nine points and five rebounds in 28 minutes.

The Lions scored the first two baskets of the game, and their lad grew to as big as 15 after a 7-0 run late in the first half, but Everett Lewis answered with a  3-pointer and the Eagles closed out the half on a 20-13 run to go to the locker room down only eight points, 40-32. The Eagles were only 12-of-32 from the floor and lost the rebounding battle by a 22-to-9 edge, but they stayed in the game with six made 3-pointers and by forcing the Lions into 12 first-half turnovers.

Grant had nine points and three assists to lead the Eagles at the break. Jordan Guerrero led the Lions with 10 points, seven rebounds and a steal.

Using aggressive defensive rotations, the Eagles cut the Albright lead to 55-51 on a Terron Bacon 3-pointer with nine minutes to play. A 9-0 Albright run bumped the Albright lead to 13 with six minutes left. With both Ward and Grant on the court, the Eagles started to chip away again. Ward found Grant for a 3-pointer and then scored in early offense to close the gap back to eight points with just over five minutes to play. That basket was Ward's third of the day. He had 11 points and four steals in the final five and half minutes of play.

Despite the frantic efforts by the Eastern defense, the Lions converted enough open looks and free throws to keep the Eagles at arm's length down the stretch. The Lions were 13-of-15 from the line in the second half.

By grabbing nine offensive rebounds, the Eagles won the rebounding battle against the bigger Lions by a 19-16 margin in the second half. Eastern made only 3-of-13 from behind the arc and only made 5-of-10 free throws after intermission.

Bacon joined the two rookie guards in double-figures with 11 points. Guerrero and 6'9 junior center Corey Simmons each finished with 14 points to pace the Lions. Samuel Majekodunmi, a senior guard, had 13 points, six rebounds and four assists.

Four of the 11 Eastern players who saw the floor tonight were in their first year of college basketball. The Lions did not have a first-year player on the floor at any time.

The Eagles will have another though test on Thursday night, when they will travel to DeSales for a non-league contest against an old MAC-Freedom rival. The Bulldogs are unbeaten through six games. Eastern will host DeSales on Friday. Both games will be available for viewing on the internet.