SCRANTON, Pa.– Eastern University Men's Basketball saw a late rally fall short in an 88-82 loss at the University of Scranton. Though the unbeaten Royals shot 63 percent from behind the arc and nearly 70 percent from the floor in the second half, the Eagles cut the Scranton lead to just four points in the final seconds of the game.
The Royals (5-0) shot 52 percent from the floor and made 8-of-9 free throws to build a 38-31 lead at the half. The Eagles made only 13-of-37 before intermission but stayed in the game by forcing 11 turnovers and grabbing nine offensive rebounds.
Jaron Fairweather hit a 3-pointer at the horn, and nine different Eastern players scored in the first half, but Scranton senior Jackson Danzig led all scorers with 17 points.
Eastern started the second half with a 4-to-2 run in the opening seconds, but the Royals scored 26 of the next 31 points to build a 66-40 lead. The Royals shot 10-of-12 from the floor and were a perfect 5-for-5 from distance in the burst. The Eagles on the other hand, were 2-for-6 with five turnovers.
The Eagles outscored the Royals 40-to-20 to close out the game, but the 26-point lead proved to be too much to overcome.
Zubair Lee registered a career-best 19 points and 13 rebounds to lead the Eagles. He also added four steals, and two blocks. Fairweather finished with 16 points and
Kaeshawn Ward had 12 and
Davin Hernandez added ten.
Danzig led four Royals in double-figures with 23.
"I think I have to take responsibility for this one," Head Coach
Dan Pruessner said after the game. "It was the first significant zone we have seen all year and we were not as well-prepared as we needed to be. We had a bad practice after a day off, and we were going to play against a really good team on the road. That's not a recipe for success. Credit to our guys for digging in and clawing back. It just took us a little too long to string stops together and figure out their zone.
The Eagles (7-2) start into MAC Commonwealth play when they host York College on Saturday. The Spartans (2-3, 0-1) lost their league-opener at Messiah University tonight.
