READING, Pa. – Eastern University Men's Basketball used stingy second-half defense to pull away to a 70-55 MAC Commonwealth road win at Albright College. The Eagles (11-4, 4-2) held the host Lions to 34 percent shooting for the game and did not allow a made 3-pointer in the final 19 minutes of the game. Jaron Fairwaether scored 15 points to lead a balanced Eastern attack.

The Eagles scuffled out of the gate in the game. Despite missing all nine of their first-half 3-point attempts and having no player score more than two first-half baskets, the Eagles were able to build a 33-27 halftime lead. Kevin Reeves had six points and Fairweather, Kaeshawn Ward, and Draig Cooley each had five. Both teams went 7-of-10 from the foul line in the first half, but the Lions made only 9-of-27 from the floor.

Albright (5-10, 2-5) came into the game with five players hitting at 40 percent or better from behind the arc. The Lions made just 2-of-10 in the first half and after hitting one early in the second, finished 3-for-15 for the game.

Davin Hernandez hit an early 3-pointer in the second and Fairweather connected on another a few minutes later, but the Eastern edge remained at six as the game hit the midpoint of the second half. The low-scoring nature of the game meant that any run either way would be magnified. The Eagles found a 6-to-0 run to extend the lead to double-figures fro the first time. Ward scored on a put-back and then the Eagles took advantage of a Fairweather block and steal to set up an isolation for Zubair Lee in the post. The rookie forward spun around his defender and banked home his second basket of the day for a 50-40 lead. Cooley then put away a driving lay-up after a pair of missed free throws at the other end to stretch the lead.

Albright scored to cut the deficit back to 10, but Fairweather hit his second 3-pointer of the game to give the Eagles the separation they needed to finish the game. As they worked to extend each possession,  the Eagles built their lead to 20 on a pair of occasions before the Lions finished the game on a 6-to-1 run.

"We played better defense in the second half," Head Coach Dan Pruessner admitted after the game. "We got some guys in foul trouble early and that put us in some different rotations, but we had guys step up. I thought Olise was really good protecting the rim and fighting for rebounds, and he scored some big baskets when we were trading baskets early in the second half."

Olise Onyeka scored six points and finished with a team-high eight rebounds. Ward joined Fairweather in double-figures with 11 points. The Eagles made 8-of-10 from the foul line in the second half.

Eastern will host the Stevenson University Mustangs on Saturday at 3:00 pm. Stevenson and Eastern are tied for second as the MAC Commonwealth season drifts toward its midpoint.