ST. DAVIDS, Pa.– Eastern University Men's Basketball (4-1) closed the first half on a 20-to-6 run and never looked back on the way to a 70-56 home-opening win over the Salisbury University Sea Gulls.
Arkese Claiborne led the Eastern attack with 21 points, and the Eastern defense held the Sea Gulls to 34 percent shooting for the game and 27 percent in the decisive first half.
"Our defense was really good tonight," Head Coach
Dan Pruessner said after the game. "We did not get a lot of blocks or steals, but we did a great job forcing them to take uncomfortable shots and then contesting them well.
After Salisbury (3-2) tied the game at 17 with back-to-back 3-pointers by Patrick Wynn, the Eagles started their big run with a
Zubair Lee free throw and a
Brian Jackson hook shot. The Eagles made 7-of-8 shots from the floor and were 3-of-4 from the 3-point line and foul line over the final nine minutes. The Sea Gulls, on the other hand, went 3-for-18 with not made free throws or 3-pointers. Lee and Claiborne each had eight points in the decisive run.
Claiborne had 14 points and Lee had 10 as the Eagles held a 37-23 lead at the break.
"I thought
Davin Hernandez came on and gave us great energy in the first half," Pruessner continued. "He only had the two free throws, but he had four tough rebounds and three assists and helped us keep the pace high. Our bench gave us good minutes across the board tonight."
Claiborne,
Josh Fadahunsi, and
Nick Mate each hit 3-pointers in the opening five minutes of the second half and the Eastern lead swelled to 19 with 15:01 on the clock. The Sea Gulls never let the Eastern lead get bigger and gradually chipped into the advantage with strong inside play from Jordan Oates.
The Eastern lead stood at 55-47 with eight minutes to play.
DaRon Sherman made both ends of a one-and-one, and the Onyeka buried a 3-pointer on a good kick from Claiborne to push the lead back to 13 points. The Sea Gulls trimmed the Eastern lead to 62-52 with four minutes to play, but Onyeka again hit a 3-pointer, this time on a kick-out pass from Sherman. The two teams traded points as the Eagles made their free throws down the stretch.
Onyeka, who came into the day leading the nation in blocked shots, finished with 11 points, six rebounds and two blocks. Claiborne added five rebounds to his 21-point effort, and Lee finished with 16 points and 11 rebounds. Oates led the Gulls with 15 points and 12 rebounds.
"This is a big win for us," Pruessner finished. "To get a focused defensive effort in front of a big crowd on our home opener is really good. Their guy Oates is an experienced fifth-year guy who over 1000 points and probably has that many rebounds. They came in here after a big win over Hopkins. We are hoping to keep this momentum going on Thursday."
The Eagles are back home again on Thursday when they host Stockton University. The Ospreys (2-1) earned an at large bid to the NCAA Tournament last year and won both their games in the very competitive Widener Tip-Off Classic to start the year.
