BALTIMORE, Md.– Eastern University Men's Basketball held off. a late charge from the host Johns Hopkins University Blue Jays to emerge with a 78-74 holiday week road win.
Zubair Lee led five Eagles in double-figures with 18 points.
The Blue Jays (3-3) used a 13-to-3 run over a a four and a half minute stretch to erase a ten-point Eastern lead and tie the game game at 71-71 with 91 seconds to play. The Eagles (5-2) made 7-of-8 free throws over the final 40 seconds to pull away to the win.
The Eagles gained the advantage despite not scoring on either of their first two shots after the score was tied. A good defensive stand and an
Arkese Claiborne offensive rebound put Lee at the line with a chance to take the lead. The junior forward made a pair for a 73-71 lead. After both teams split a pair of free throws, the Eagles forced a turnover on an inbounds play, and Claiborne made both.
After Hopkins finished a lay-in with five seconds to play, the Eagles executed their inbounds play to get the ball into the hands of
Nick Mate. The junior shooter made both for the final margin.
Eastern's ten-point lead was a bit of an an outlier in a game that featured 10 lead changes and seven ties. Hopkins led 55-50 with 12 minutes to play when the Eagles put in one of their typical second-half surges.
Olise Onyeka scored six points and Claiborne dropped in a rain-making 3-pointer to put the Eagles up 59-55 before the hosts converted a tough 3-pointer to close the gap to one point and force an Eastern timeout.
Out of the break,
DaRon Sherman took advantage of a lot of open space to step into a 3-pointer. Sherman had attacked the basket and was on the way to a career-high 14-point outing. The Eastern defense contested well on a pair of inside shots on either side of a pair of
Olise Onyeka free throws and
Davin Hernandez hit a corner 3-pointer off a good kick from Claiborne for a nine-point edge. Sherman ripped a ball free and split a pair of free throws for a 68-58 lead, the Eagles biggest of the game.
The first half saw the Eagles trail by as many as eight early before closing the gap and taking a four-point lead on consecutive baskets from Mate,
Josh Fadahunsi, and Claiborne. The Eagles made only 6-of-10 first half free throws and the Blue Jays led 39-38 at the break.
Mate led the Eagles at the break with nine points and a pair of steals. Four different Eastern players made long-range efforts as the Eagles went 4-of-7 from behind the arc. Onyeka had three of his five blocked shots in the first half. Hopkins guard Brian Windley had 11 at intermission.
The Blue Jays led for most of the early moments of the second half but did not stretch their lead to five until going up 55-50.
Hopkins came into the game on the heels of a weekend where they beat third-ranked John Carroll University by 15 points at the Great Lakes Invitational hosted by Calvin College.
With their attacking offense, the Eagles put the hosts in the bonus early made 15-of-20 second half free throws. Sherman and Onyeka each scored eight second-half points, and Lee had 11. Lee finished the game with 18 points, seven rebounds, and a pair of blocks. Onyeka finished with 11 points, four rebounds and five blocked shots. Sherman had six rebounds and three assists, and Claiborne had 13 points, seven rebounds and two blocks.
Charlie Jackson had 18 points and 11 rebounds to lead the hosts.
"This is a great win for our program," Head Coach
Dan Pruessner said. " We got good contributions from across the board, and I was really proud of the way we held on when things started going against us late. The guys did not panic. That's huge against a quality team in a tough road environment. DaRon showed great confidence scoring the ball, and Olise had some big blocked shots and scoring plays in down the stretch. He and Zubair did a good job protecting the rim and we battled a big team to even on the glass. It's exciting to see how this group is starting to find its identity."
The Eagles will have a break for Thanksgiving and will be back in action on Tuesday with a road test at Neumann University.
