ST. DAVIDS, Pa.– Eastern University Men's Basketball dropped a 75-71 heartbreaker to the visiting Hood College Blazers in tremendously competitive MAC Commonwealth Championship game. The Eagles led by three points with two minutes to play, but the Blazers pulled within one on a pair of free throws and took the lead on an incredible finish from tournament MVP Mason Wang. Playing from behind, the Eagles wound up having to foul and Hood made foul shots to secure the university's first MAC Commonwealth Championship. Draig Cooley led the Eagles with 24 points on 9-of-12 shooting.

Down 40-39 at halftime, the Eagles started the second half on a 10-to-0 run and ripped another ball free and seemed to be out in transition. Hood guard Evan Wang somehow secured the loose ball found Soren Almquist on the wing for a 3-pointer to stop the Eastern run. Hood was 11-of-24 from behind the arc with seven different players hitting long shots in the game. The Eagles scored twice more to build the lead to ten points before Luol Chol connected on a 3-pointer from the corner.

That basket sparked a 15-to-4 run to put the Blazers up 58-57 with nine minutes to play. William Blet seemed to find Cooley with a no-look over-the-head pass for a basket and the lead, but instead, the foul was called on the ground and Blet missed the front end. Jaron Fairweather tipped a ball off Mason Wang's shoe to give the Eagles another chance to go up.

Cooley split two pairs of free throws to put the Eagles up. The Eastern defense earned a stop with a shot-clock violation between the two sets free throws.

Mason Wang answered with a basket and a pair of free throws for the three-point lead with six and a half minutes to play. Cooley grabbed his own miss and found Sam Gallardo for a lay-up to pull the game to within a point.

The first of two really unlucky breaks went against the Eagles on the next Hood possession. Mason Wang missed a jumper from the right wing badly, and the Eagles were in position to secure the rebound. The ball, however, did not come down. Somehow, the ball lodged between the backboard and the rim on the opposite side of the basket, and the Blazers got another chance on alternate possession.

The Blazers took full advantage of their extra possession as Evan Wang hit a contested 17-footer from behind the backboard to go up three.

Cooley scored at the other end and Blet drew a charge to earn the Eagles another possession with four and a half minutes to play. Blet made the first of two free throws, but was unable to put the Eagles up.

Even so, the Eagles got another great stop on a wall-up play by Cooley on Mason Wang and took the 66-64 lead on Cooley finish off a great pass from Blet.

The Blazers equalized on a finish inside from Mason Wang and the Eagles had an empty possession before making two great defensive plays. Blet swatted an Evan Wang lay-up off the back wall and Cooley picked off the inbounds pass and raced to the other end for a finish.

On the play, Mason Wang raced back to defend the shot and caught Cooley in the eye. In the second unlucky break of the final six minutes, no official saw the contact and Cooley had to leave the game. Though the Eagles got a steal and Kaeshawn Ward split a pair at the line to go up three, the inside duo of Blet and Cooley could not pair up, and the Eagles were short-handed at both ends.

Hood's Chris Smalls hit a pair of foul shots to pull within a point. Ward had a 3-point attempt go in-and-out. The Eagles needed a great stretch at the defensive end, and they seemed to get it. Mason Wang wound up going in against a perfectly walled-up Blet and somehow got a left-handed finish to crawl over the rim and in.

Gallardo attacked the basket to try to take the lead back, but his shot rimmed out and after a long conversation, the officials determined the ball went off an Eastern player. As the Eagles pressed out, Christopher Smalls made a lay-up to push the Hood lead to three points.

Forced to chase the game, the Eagles were unable to make up ground and Hood made free throws to finish.

Mason Wang led all scorers with 26 points. Cooley had eight rebounds to go with his 24 points. Cooley scored 72 points and added 28 rebounds and seven steals in three MAC Commonwealth tournament games. Blet finished with 14 points, five rebounds, and three blocks. Jaron Fairweather scored 11 and four steals.

There were no available seats before the Hood fan buses arrived, and all standing room disappeared by tip-off. With Eastern's students on spring break, The Nest took on a little bit more of a neutral-site feel. Both crowds had reason to cheer early. The Eagles held the lead for much of the first half, but with their ability to hit from long-range, the Blazers seemed very much in it.

The Eagles led 39-32 on an inside basket from Blet, but Evan Wing hit a deep 3-pointer from the wing and his brother hit a deeper 3-pointer from the top. Hood grabbed the halftime lead with on a pair of Mason Wang free throws.

"I am so proud of the way these guys have competed," Head Coach Dan Pruessner said after the game. "It was a game of really tight margins. They made some big plays. To get back to a conference championship game after last year's tough season is a great accomplishment. Right now, we are all crushed emotionally. This was really tough for all our guys, but especially our seniors.  We hope we are still playing next weekend."

The Eagles (21-5) will hope their body of work through the year will merit and at-large berth into the NCAA Tournament. The tournament announcement will be made Monday at 12:30 on the NCAA Website.