GRANTHAM, Pa. – With today's game at Messiah University starting an hour after the other three games in the league were completed, Eastern University Men's Basketball knew a win over the Falcons would secure a spot in the MAC Commonwealth Tournament.Even with that knowledge, the Eagles came into the contest focused on restoring a defensive identity and increasing offensive efficiency. Despite a very slow start, the Eagles (15-8, 8-6) were able to do both and earned a 76-57 win. Nick Mate scored a career-best 20 points on 6-of-6 from behind the arc to pace the Eagles.

Coming into the contest, the Falcons (9-14, 4-10) held opponents to less than 30 percent from behind the arc and were first in the MAC Commonwealth in defensive 3-point percentage. The Eagles were 344th nationally and eighth in the MAC Commonwealth in 3-pointers attempted and were shooting just 31 percent from behind the arc. For the game, the Eagles attempted 19, which is right at their average, but led by Mate's historic night, the Eagles made 11 for a season-best 57.9 percent from deep.

The game hit its turning point eight minutes into the first half. The Eagles scuffled early and trailed 12-6. Nothing seemed to be happening. Mate, a first-year guard from Miami, came on and drew an offensive foul at one end. His first 3-pointer came from the left corner. Like the rest of his shots from deep for the night, his first attempt barely rippled the net as dropped through clean.

That shot sparked a 14-to-3 run where the Eagles made 3-of-4 from the deep, and the Falcons did not make a field goal. Mate and Kaeshawn Ward hit 3-pointers and Zubair Lee converted a three-point play.

The Falcons scored back-to-back baskets to pull within a point at 20-19 with two and a half minutes to play, but Mate made the final three Eastern baskets of the first half fora 29-22 lead at intermission.

While Mate's performance was important at the one end, the Eastern defense played a bigger role in establishing the lead. With the Eagles contesting nearly every shot, Messiah made just 7-of-26 in the half. Zubair Lee had seven first-half rebounds.

An 14-to-6 Eastern run to start the second half included 3-pointers from Ward, Mate, Davin Hernandez, and Jaron Fairweather, and the Eagles would build a double-digit lead that they would never relinquish. Messiah closed the gap to nine points with 93 seconds to play, =but the Eagles hit free throws down the stretch to pull away.

Ward finished with 16 points on 5-of-9 shooting and Cooley added 14 points. Lee finished with a game-high 12 rebounds. Cooley is now 27 points from 1000 for his career. Mate is the first Eastern player to make six 3-pointers since 2000. There are four instances of Eastern players hitting more than six 3-pointers before that time, but attempts were not recorded.

"It is a long season, and we have some guys with some heavy legs and injuries, " Head Coach Dan Pruessner said after the game. "Nick has been working hard and staying ready, and he made the most of an opportunity today. He made a couple big plays on defense and was ready to shoot. We only shot 34 percent from the floor in the first half and that was with him hitting 5-for-5. Him making shots gave us a little breathing room and spaced the floor. We talked a good bit at halftime about attacking the rim more aggressively. We only shot one first-half free throw. We kept trying to get away from contact. We did a much better job and got to the line in the second half. Zubair was really good at the defensive end. He stayed patient and did a great job contesting and then winning the rebound."

The Eagles can secure a top-three seed with wins to close out the regular season. The top five teams in the league make the MAC Commonwealth Tournament. The four and five seeds play Monday for a chance to travel to the top seed on Wednesday.

The Eagles will have a quick turnaround before hosting Lebanon Valley at 6 pm on Tuesday.