ST. DAVIDS, Pa.– Eastern University Men's Basketball used a strong defensive effort to earn a 75-51 MAC Commonwealth win over the visiting Messiah University Falcons. The Eagles (12-5, 4-2) held the Falcons to 35.3 percent shooting and created 28 points off turnovers. Jaron Fairweather scored a game-high 17 points and reached the 1,000 point mark for his career.

The Falcons (4-13, 0-6) found success early and built a 22-16 lead at the midpoint of the first half. They made nine of their first 13 shots on the way to the lead. The Falcons went without a field goal for the rest of the half. The Eastern defense forced 10 turnovers and six missed shots over the final ten minutes and took a 35-25 lead into halftime.

"They were getting some good action early," Head Coach Dan Pruessner said. "Ace [Assistant Coach Austin Carroll] made an adjustment on how we were going to guard, and we were able to force them out of rhythm and out of the spaces where they were comfortable. Once we sorted that out, it was an outstanding defensive performance."

Fairweather came into the game need nine points to reach the 1000 point plateau. Though he played in 19 games in 2019-20, he scored only seven points. His first seven points this afternoon came pretty quickly. He scored on three of his first four shots, and his seventh point put the Eagles up for good with 8:39 left in the first half. He had several shots to reach the milestone before halftime, but they all rimmed out.

The Eagles had possession to start the second half and ran a play for Fairweather. He had a look at the basket but saw Zubair Lee with an easy shot and slipped a pocket pass to his sophomore post player for a lay-in. Fairweather had six assists in the game. His 1,000th point came less than two minutes later.  Kaeshawn Ward grabbed an offensive rebound and flipped a pass out to the arc. Fairweather made a move to get to the elbow, let traffic clear, and drained a 17-footer.

"That's a shot that he works on every day in practice," Pruessner said. "He has become such an efficient player. That's a tough shot, but he makes it look easy. I love that he made the basketball play on the first play of the half."

The Eastern lead grew to 54-38 when Fairweather found Kevin Reeves for an open lay-up with 11:22 left in regulation. The Falcons pieced together an 8-0 run to pull within eight.

Eljay Morris made a strong post move to put the Eagles up 56-46, but the Falcons had an answer. After both sides turned in empty possessions Ward found Fairweather to briefly restore the 10-point lead. Messiah guard Caleb Lyles hit a tough floater with 5:49 to play to close the gap to 58-50. The Eagles again turned up the defensive pressure and did not allow a Falcon field goal the rest of the way.

Zubair Lee found Fairweather for a lay-up, and Ward it a tough step-back to put the Eagles up 12. Lee posted 14 points, eight rebounds, and five assists, and Fairweather finished with six assists, five rebounds, and two steals. Reeves made all four of his shots and finished with nine points.

"Every game in this league is a test," Pruessner said after the game. "Coming off a huge win on Wednesday, we needed to be ready to go today. I was very pleased with our defensive effort and the way our guys responded when we made adjustments."

The Eagles will wrap up the first half of the MAC Commonwealth season with a home game against Albright. Sits a game behind Hood and Widener who are tied at 5-1 atop the league.