OWINGS MILLS, Md. – After an extended break for the holidays, Eastern University Men's Basketball opened the MAC Commonwealth season with an 80-74 win at Stevenson University. The Eagles trailed by 10 in the first half but held a slim margin for the final 12 minutes of the game to secure the important road result. Jaron Fairweather and Zubair Lee each recorded double-doubles with 17 points.

The Eagles (9-3, 1-0) struggled to find the range out of the gates. Eastern missed 11 shots in the paint in the first half and, early on, did not have a lot better luck from distance. The Eagles missed their first nine shots from behind the arc.

Against the Eastern pressure, the Mustangs took care of the ball and made enough shots to lead 26-16  with eight minutes to play in the first half. Kevin Reeves scored a pair of baskets to spark a 12-3 run. The Eagles pulled to within a single point when DaRon Sherman found a cutting Fairweather for a lay-up.

Stevenson scored to answer but Sherman found an open Nick Mate on back-to-back possession for 3-point baskets and a 34-31 lead. Mate made two long-range efforts in each half and finished the game with 12 points. Sherman finished with four assists. Each team made a free throw in the final seconds and the Eagles held a 35-32 lead at halftime.

The Eagles led despite shooting only 40 percent from the floor and forcing only six turnovers.

Davin Hernandez hit a 3-pointer to open the second half, but the two-possession lead lasted less than 90 seconds. The lead changed hands several times over the next few minutes but neither team led by more than three points until Mate connected on a transition 3-pointer to put the Eagles up 57-53 with 11:29 left in regulation. That effort came less than a minute after Mate broke a 51-51 tie with his third 3-pointer of the game.

While the Eagles held the led the rest of the way and often stretched their advantage to five points, the host Mustangs always seemed to have a response to keep the game within range. When the Eagles finally stretched their edge to seven points on a Fairweather 3-pointer with 47 seconds to play, the three-score spread only lasted seconds as Mustang Guard Rodrigo Cooley connected from distance at the other end.

Kaeshawn Ward made a pair of free throws and Fairweather finished in transition after an Arkese Claiborne steal to push the lead to eight before Stevenson scored a basket at the buzzer to make the final margin six.

"We looked pretty rusty early," Head Coach Dan Pruessner said after the game. "Their guards did a good job handling pressure and other than that little run after we were down ten, we were never able to really build a run. Nick Mate hit some really big shots in big moments for us. DaRon had some really big minutes as well."

"The whole second half felt t=like we were right on the edge of pulling away," Pruessner said. "It just did not happen and the game stayed tight. We shot better in the second half (14-of-29 from the floor and 6-of-12 from 3-point line) but we did not get our second basket off a steal until the final seconds. Every win in conference is a big win, and this one, on the road and after a long break is really important. We will work to get ready for York on Saturday. "

Fairweather scored 13 of his points in the second half and finished with 11 rebounds. With his 17-point effort, he moved his career average over 10 points per game for the first time. He now has 945 points in 94 career games.

Ward finished with 13 points and six assists. With 261 helpers for his career, he moved into the eighth spot on Eastern's career assist mark.

Lee had five rebounds at each end of the floor to finish with his sixth double-double of the year.

Eastern will host York College of Pennsylvania at three on Saturday. The Spartans (7-5, 0-1) dropped an 82-76 decision to Alvernia in overtime tonight.