ST. DAVIDS, Pa.– Eastern University Men's Basketball (8-2, 1-0) used an impressive second half to open the MAC Commonwealth season with a 76-59 home win over the York College Spartans. Zubair Lee scored 17 points and added 12 rebounds to record a second double-double this week.

Eastern led 32-28 at intermission and held that four-point edge up 43-37 with fifteen minutes left. The Eagles broke the game open with a 22-to-2 run over a six minute stretch. Sam Gallardo started the run with an acrobatic finish inside and a behind-the-back pass to Eljay Morris for a dunk. Gallardo had nine points and two assists, and Kaeshawn Ward hit a deep 3-pointer and collected three of his game-high seven assists in the run.

The Eastern lead stayed above 20 points until a York 3-pointer in the final seconds closed out the game with a 5-0 run.

While the Eagles shot 64.5 percent from the floor in the second half, Head Coach Dan Pruessner was more pleased with his team's defense and the way they got their shots.

"We looked at the stats late in the first half, and we had only four assists," Pruessner said. "That's not us. We had 11 assists in the second half and did a much better job moving the ball. We used the momentum and did a good job contesting shots."

York (2-4, 0-2) hit only 9-of-34 shots and just 3-of-13 from behind the arc in the second half. All three York made 3-pointers came after the Eagles were up by more than 20.

After making just a single 3-pointer on five attempts in the first half, the Eagles made 4-of-8 from behind the arc after the break. Ward hit a pair, Gallardo hit one in transition, and Josiah Scarlett kissed a long-range effort from the wing off the glass to delight the Eastern faithful.

The Eastern bench outscored the Spartan reserves 22-to-12.

In a first half without much rhythm, the Spartans led for much of the early going and were up 19-16 when Ward found Morris in transition for a dunk. The Eagles took their first lead of the game at 21-20 on a 17-foot jumper from Ward with 7:25 to play. The Spartans answered to briefly regain the lead before Jaron Fairweather hit the only Eastern 3-pointer of the first half to put the Eagles up for good with just over four minutes left. In the half.

Lee scored nine points and had seven rebounds in the first half. Kevin Reeves scored eight of his 12 points in the first half. For the game, the senior captain from Chester, Pa. was 6-of-8 from the floor with two steals and a blocked shot. While the Eagles were only 13-of-32 from the floor in the opening half, they held the Spartans to only 11-of-34 and just 3-of-15 from behind the arc.

Gallardo had 11 points and Ward and Morris each scored 10. Ward had a game-high seven assists. The Eagles attempted only two second-half free throws.

Eastern will travel to Hood College on Tuesday for a rematch of last year's MAC Commonwealth title game. The Blazers (5-3, 2-0) improved to 2-0 in the league with a two-point win at Albright College this afternoon. Tuesday's game will start at 6:00 pm.