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KEENE, N.H.– After a season away, Eastern University Men's Basketball returns to the NCAA Tournament for an opening round match-up against TCNJ, a relatively local opponent in a far away place. To get to Keene, N.H., the site of today's game, the Eastern bus touched ground in New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Vermont, and New Hampshire. Though the Eagles have players from many states, there is not an Eastern player from any of the last five states on that list.
Both Eastern and TCNJ swept through their conference tournaments and hit the 20-win mark in big road wins on Saturday.
With two losses late in the year, the Lions slipped to a 5 seed in the NJAC Tournament. They avenged the first of those losses with an 81-74 win at Ramapo in the opening round. They then beat top-seeded Rowan,79-73, to set up a third match-up with Stockton. The Lions earned a 75-62 win in the final to secure the league's automatic bid. TCNJ made 12-of-21 from behind the arc in the win. Nick Koch scored 74 points and dished out 15 assists in the three games of the NJAC Tournament.
Both Rowan and Stockton received at large bids to the NCAA Tournament.
With five teams competing for four spots int he MAC Commonwealth Tournament, the Eagles started playing what felt like elimination games in early February. They won four straight games to secure the third seed, before playing poorly and winning in a game without league ramifications at Messiah.
Even with the five wins in a row, the Eagles were on the road for the MAC Commonwealth Tournament. They trailed by three at halftime at Hood before winning 86-72.
Arkese Claiborne scored 20 to pace five Eastern players in double figures. After scoring 42 first-half points, Hood made 7-of-29 shots (24.14%) in the second half. The Eagles made 16-of-30 shots in each half.
While the win over Hood was another victory over a regionally ranked team, the Eagles were likely on the bubble for a tournament berth going into a game against a veteran Widener group that had posted double-figure wins in both regular season games.
Widener jumped to a 15-point lead early, but the Eagles did not blink. They closed out the first half on a 35-to-18 run and led 48-46.
Davin Hernandez made all five of his first-half shots to lead the Eagles with 13 points. Widener made 18-of-33 from the floor in the first half and hit two early 3-pointers in the second. The Pride hit only four field goals over the final 14 and a half minutes and shot only 9-of-36 after halftime. The Eagles shot 50% in both halves and controlled the boards by a 45-32 margin.
Zubair Lee scored 25 points and grabbed 12 rebounds to earn tournament MVP Honors.
Both Widener and Hood received at large bids to the tournament.
Lee earned MAC Commonwealth Defensive Player of the Year Honors and was a First-Team All-MAC Commonwealth honoree. He leads the league in rebounding, double-doubles, and free throws.
Jaron Fairweather also earned First Team Honors.
Kaeshawn Ward earned Second-Team All-MAC Commonwealth recognition.
The winner of this game will play the winner of the later game between the Keene State Owls and the Marymount University Saints.
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