ST. DAVIDS, Pa.— Eastern University Men's Basketball closed out the 2025-26 season with a wild 108-102 loss to the MAC Commonwealth regular-season champion Hood College Blazers. To celebrate his senior day, Olise Onyeka scored a career high 29 points and went over the 500 rebound mark for his career with 12 caroms, but it was not enough as the Blazers (22-3, 13-1) shot 63.6 percent from the floor in the second half to secure the win. The Eagles honored Onyeka, Nick Mate, and Anthony Williams before the game.

The Eagles (9-15, 6-8) answered an early blow from the guests and led 19-12 after Onyeka found Williams inside for a lay-up and Mate hit a 3-pointer on a kick-out pass from Dejuan Taylor. Mate finished with 14 points and six assists, and Williams had 11 points and a pair of steals.

With the game moving at a blur, the Blazers gradually pulled in front with three 3-pointers in a 90-second burst. DaRon Sherman answered to tie the game at 26 with three quarters of the game left. Hood outscored the Eagles 25-16 over the final nine minutes of the first half to lead 51-44 at the break. Hood's Kullen Robinson led all scorers with 19 points. Mate had nine and Sherman had eight. Onyeka, who came into the game three rebounds short of 500 for his career, hit that mark early in the game. He finishes the year with a MAC Commonwealth best 257 rebounds and 16 double-doubles.

The Eagles tied the game at 66 on a Mate 3-pointer with 13-and-a-half minutes left and were within a point when Onyeka made a pair of free throws two minutes later. Jevon Yarbrough then sparked a 1-to-6 Hood run with eight points in four minutes. Yarbrough, who scored 42 in the game between the two sides at Hood, finished with 33 points and 10 assists.

The Eagles battled to the finish, but the Blazers were very comfortable spreading the floor and making free throws. Onyeka scored the final basket of the game to close his Eastern career.

"They are a really good team," Pruessner said, "and Yarbrough is so different in the way he plays. His passing was as impressive as his scoring. We played hard and did some really good things. We made 19-of-23 free throws in the second half and won the battle on the glass, but they just had too many guys to make shots."

Taylor finished with 15 points off the bench and Mason Lewis and Connor Fleet each added eight. With his four steals today, Sherman is up to 105 for his career. Hood will open the MAC Commonwealth Tournament against Alvernia on Wednesday.