FREDERICK, Md. – Eastern University Men's Basketball used defense to create a late 8-to-0 run to break open a close game and earn a 76-69 MAC Commonwealth win at Hood College. The Eastern win snapped the Blazers eight-game winning streak and pushed the Eagles into a tie for first in the league with two games remaining. Eastern (17-4, 12-2) holds the tiebreaker in the league by virtue of sweeping the season series.
Jaron Fairweather keyed the decisive run with a pair of steals. The junior forward finished with 14 points, three assists, and three steals.
Up 60-58, the Eagles earned a defensive stop and
Sam Gallardo buried a pair of free throws after grabbing an offensive rebound. The Blazers, who had trailed but been within striking distance for most of the second half, tried to work the ball inside. Fairweather ripped a ball free and was fouled immediately. He split a pair at the line. On the next Hood possession, Fairweather poked the ball free from Mason Wang at the top of the key and cruised home for lay-up.
Wang scored at his average with 24 points, but the six-time MAC Commonwealth Player of the Week scored only seven points in the second half.
Hood had another empty possession and the Eagles moved the ball against a trapping Hood defense to get an open 3-pointer for
Sam Gallardo in the corner. The ball splashed through the net with two seconds on the shot clock and the Eagles led 68-58 with 3:19 on the clock.
With the ten-point edge, the Eagles were able to hold for extended possessions and convert late while continuing to contest chances on the perimeter. The Blazers made just two 3-pointers in the final ten minutes, and only one, from Ryan Hollwedel with 18 seconds left, in the final eight minutes.
The game featured 19 lead changes. The Eagles took the lead for good when
Kevin Reeves followed a miss and converted the free throw for a 51-50 lead with thirteen minutes to play.
"We did a great job on the glass," Head Coach
Dan Pruessner said after the game. "We knew they were going to hit some threes, but we had to win the battle on the boards. We out rebounded them by 13 and battled for every loose ball. Kevin's put-back was huge. He got big gash battling for another loose ball. We got good contributions from everywhere. This was a great team win"
Kaeshawn Ward and
Draig Cooley each grabbed nine rebounds and the Eagles had a 44-31 edge on the glass. Hood had a 21-20 edge in second-chance points.
"They are really tough to play against," Pruessner continued. "Our guys did a great job on the scout. Jaron made some great one-on-one defensive plays and also some some chances to throw traps that resulted in turnovers. Sam did a really good job on Evan Wang."
Hood had a pair of five-point leads in the first half and led 34-32 late in the period. Reeves split a pair at the line and
William Blet scored late to put the Eagles up 35-34 at the break. Mason Wang had 17 at intermission, but he was the only Blazer with more than two made field goals.
Blet finished with 13 points and eight rebounds. Ward had 11 points and five steals. Blet, a graduate student from Miami, is now 13 points from 1000 for his career.
The Eagles will host Lebanon Valley College on Tuesday night. Eastern can secure a top-two seed in the MAC Commonwealth tournament with a win Tuesday. The program will honor its seniors before the game.
