ST. DAVIDS, Pa.– Eastern University Men's Basketball used a 32-to-9 second half run to break open the game on the way to an 84-64 MAC Commonwealth win over the visiting Stevenson University Mustangs. Jaron Fairweather matched his career high with 27 points to lead the Eagles. 

While the Eagles (14-7, 6-4) only made two shots outside the lane on the way to a 34-33 halftime lead, they made 8-of-14 from behind the arc while pulling away in the second half. 

For the opening six minutes of the second half, the Eagles held their lead but could never extend it. With the tam up 44-43, the Eastern coaches put Nick Mate into the game for the first time. Mate had missed the last game after sustaining an injury in the York game and had missed practice time. The sophomore sharpshooter was on the floor for an 18-to-4 run that gave the Eagles some much needed separation. He made two long-range efforts and helped to space the floor for others to drive and post.

"Nick coming on and making shots was huge," Head Coach Dan Pruessner said. "We felt like a run was coming, but we had to do something to pull them away from the basket. Once shots started to fall, everything else started to work."

Including some spectacular passes from Kevin Reeves, Fairweather, and Kaeshawn Ward, the Eagles had 12 assists in the second half. Ward finished with a season-best matching nine assists. Mate was 3-for-5 from deep for the game and finished with nine points in seven and a half minutes.

"For us," Pruessner added, "The pace was really good, but we started to have more patience in the second half. We moved the ball enough to create the gaps and then our guys were able to make plays. We shot 60 percent int he second half because we were sharing the ball and getting good shots."

The Mustangs cut the Eastern lead to 62-52 with a pair of free throws and a Ronald Ayers 3-pointer. Reeves then drained a 3-pointer to start a 14-to-0 run. Arkese Claiborne, who had nine of his 13 points in the second half, had five points in the run. Reeves finished with nine points and four assists.

Fairweather had 14 points on 13 shots in the first half. He scored his 13 second half points on only five field goal attempts. He made all three of his field goal attempts and a pair of free throws. It is the second Saturday in a row that Fairweather has scored 27.

"We needed Jaron to be aggressive in the first half," Pruessner added. "He was attacking in transition and willing to take shots. He was super-efficient in the second half. He and Zu [Zubair Lee] each took five second-half shots and they combined for 22 points."

Lee finished with 15 points and nine rebounds. He leads the MAC Commonwealth with 208 rebounds and 118 made free throws. he has made ten more free throws than anyone else in the league has attempted. 

The win puts the Eagles into a two-way tie for fourth in the league with York. the Spartans lost in triple overtime at Alvernia today. The Eagles will host Alvernia on Wednesday at 7:00 pm in a game with massive post-season ramifications for both teams.