ST. DAVIDS, Pa.– Eastern University Men's Basketball started slowly and never recovered in a 79-69 home loss to league-leading York. Connor Fleet scored a career-high 21, it it was not enough to get past the veteran Spartans.

York (14-5, 7-1) scored 12 of the first 14 points in the game and led by as many as 13 points in a physical first half. Jackson Mascari made 7-of-10 from the floor and scored 18 of York's 37 first-half points. Eight Eastern players scored before halftime, but no Eagle had more than four and York held a 37-25 lead at the break.

Out of the locker-room, the Eagles had a great stretch and pulled to within six on a pull-up from Nick Mate. After the two teams traded baskets, the Spartans scored six points in forty seconds to spark a 13-to-3 run and restore control of the game.

The Spartans stretched their edge to as many as 20 before Fleet sparked the Eastern response. The rookie guard scored 18 points in the final eight minutes.

"We are missing on a lot of the little things we need to do well," Head Coach Dan Pruessner said after the game. "We are not good enough to beat the good teams in our league without taking care of those details. We had a group that came in and played with great effort and energy, and I am pleased with that. AJ [Anthony Williams] got five rebounds in ten minutes, and Connor bounced back after some early mistakes and made shots."

"York is a good team," Pruessner continued. "They will thrive in a physical game like this. We would love to figure out how to see them one more time, but it will be nice to see some of those guys finally graduate."

Kai Cipalla scored 18 of his game-high 22 points in the second half. York was 18-of-26 from the floor after intermission.

DaRon Sherman and Olyse Onyeka both scored eight points. 

The Eagles will host Widener on Wednesday at 7:00 pm. Widener lost to Stevenson this afternoon.