WASHINGTON, D.C.– With a 79-71 loss to the Roanoke College Maroons, Eastern University Men's Basketball saw its winning streak snapped at six. Jaron Fairweather scored 14 of his game-high 23 points after intermission, but it was not enough, as the Maroons made 15-of-28 shots after halftime to hold off a late Eastern charge.

The Maroons led by 13 at the midpoint of the second half, but the Eagles made a run to close the Roanoke lead to 63-58 on back-to-back made 3-pointers from Fairweather and Zubair Lee with 6:50 to play. Eastern earned a stop and had a chance to cut the deficit further, but a Nick Mate 3-pointer rimmed out and Roanoke pushed the lead back to seven.

Fairweather hit a tough shot in traffic to close the gap back to five with five minutes to play, but the Eagles were unable to get closer after Roanoke scored three consecutive baskets. Fairweather was 6-of-6 from the floor after intermission. Lee was held scoreless in the first half, but the sophomore forward had 17 points and 12 rebounds in the final 20 minutes to help in the rally. Kaeshawn Ward was the only other Eagles in double figures. He scored 13 points.

Despite making only 5-of-18 shots in the paint in the first half, the Eagles were in the with the score tied at 27 with 3:14 on the clock. After the Eagles nearly forced a 10-second violation, the Maroons  got a Zach Rosenthal 3-pointer on a broken play and then stretched the lead to five on a put-back basket. Rosenthal made 5-of-8 3-pointers for Roanoke. Four of those came in the first half.

The Eagles went 5-of-12 from behind the arc in the first half. Mate made a pair and had eight points, but the inability to convert opportunities inside put the Eagles behind and chasing.

For all the pressure the Eagles could create in the second half, they could not string together enough turnovers to counter the Maroons' good shooting.

The Eagles will close out their semester and their non-league schedule at 2:00 pm tomorrow against Wabash College.