ANNVILLE, Pa.– Sam Gallardo scored a career-high 27 points, but it was not enough as the MAC Commonwealth-leading Lebanon Valley College Dutchmen (6-1) defended their home floor and beat Eastern University Men's Basketball by a 73-60 final.  The hosts put all five starters in double figures. William Blet had 13 points, six rebounds, four assists and three blocks in his first action of the year.

The Eagles (0-6) made three 3-pointers in the opening five minutes and jumped out to a 15-8 early lead. The Eastern lead grew to 21-12, but the Eagles managed only 11 points over the final 11 minutes and went to the locker room down 33-32.

The Eastern defense held LVC to 38 percent shooting from the floor and only 1-of-6 from behind the arc through the first 20 minutes. Blet had ten points at the break and Gallardo had nine.

Jaron Fairweather hit a 3-pointer to open the second  half, and Gallardo answered a Justin Baker basket with a  3-pointer for  a 38-35 lead. The game then went sideways for the Eagles. LVC outscored Eastern 27-3 run  over an eight-minute stretch. The Eagles went 1-8 with six turnovers ias the Dutchmen shot 9-for-15 with 5-of-6 shooting from the foul line.

Gallardo scored 18 of the final 25 Eastern points on the night.

Despite the return of Blet, the Dutchmen still had a decisive size advantage int eh game, and they used it to build  a 48-30 edge in points in the paint and to earn 10 more trips to the foul line.

The Eagles shot 38 percent from the floor for the game.

Eastern will play at Messiah College on Thursday night before hosting the Falcons on Friday.