ST. DAVIDS, Pa.– Eastern University Men's Basketball used a 22-to-7 run early in the second half to grab the lead for good and earn a 76-60 MAC Commonwealth win over the visiting Stevenson University Mustangs. The Eastern reserves outscored their counterparts from Stevenson by a 34-to-3 margin.

The Mustangs (10-6, 4-3) built a 14-6 lead early and held that edge for much of the first half. The Eagles led for only 18 seconds at 23-22 when Jaron Fairweather put away a lay-up on a feed from Kaeshawn Ward. The Mustangs answered with a 3-pointer from Cameron Smith and were up 30-26 before Draig Cooley scored the final basket of the first half to cut the Stevenson lead to two at the break.

While the Eagles shot a respectable shot only 11-of-25 (44 percent) from the floor in the opening frame, their starting five went 4-for-17. Zubair Lee scored six points to lead the Eastern starters. Cooley had six and Kevin Reeves had five to lead the Eastern bench players. Cameron Smith led the Mustangs with 11 first-half points.

Despite giving up a 3-pointer on the opening possession of the second half, the Eagles came out with renewed energy on defense and a commitment to get to the rim on offense. On the defensive end, the Eagles held Stevenson to 12-of-30 shooting and forced 12 turnovers. On the offensive end, the Eastern shot chart looked like a blob of dark ink directly under the basket. Eastern went 16-for-17 on shots at the rim in the second half.

Sam Gallardo sparked the big run in the game with a three-point play and capped the 12-to-0 start with the team's first made 3-pointer of the game. HIs shot from the right corner hit the front of the rim and popped straight in the air before settling into the hoop on the second bounce.

The Eastern lead grew to 10 points on a lay-up from Cooley and stayed there on a basket from Jairus Carroll. The Mustangs closed the gap to six points, but a basket from Carroll and a 3-pointer in transition from Davin Hernandez pushed the Eagles to a 59-48 lead with eight and a half minutes to play.

The Eagles held their focus on defense and shortened the game with extended possessions on the other end.  The lead grew to 17 on a lay-up from Ward with three minutes left. Lee had 11 of his game-high 17  points int he second half. The first year post player went 7-for-9 from the foul line and had three assists and two blocks. Gallardo scored 13 points. Cooley had 12 points and Kevin Reeves had 11. Cooley and Carroll each had a pair of steals. Ward had a game-high six assists.

"We are starting to be a who we are," Head Coach Dan Pruessner said after the game. "Our bench guys came in and we were able to maintain our defensive focus and create some match-ups we really like. I did not realize our guys off the bench went 14-for-15, but we felt like we did a good job scoring or getting to the line in the second half. We know there are no easy games in this league. We will have a couple very different road tests next week."

With the win, the Eagles (12-4, 5-2) move to within a half game of the MAC Commonwealth-leading Alvernia. The Golden Wolves dropped an 87-86 decision to Hood. Eastern and Widener are tied for second. The Eagles will finish the first-half of the league slate with a game at Lebanon Valley at 6 pm on Wednesday. The Dutchmen moved into a three-way tie for fifth in the league with a 68-56 win at Messiah.