Winning on the road is tough to do.
Marywood has always been a tough
game on the road for the Eastern
University men's basketball team,
and as the fourth game in seven
days, tonight's contest was not
likely to be an easy one for the
Eagles. Eastern used 64% shooting in
the second half to down a scrappy
Marywood team 74-72.
The first half saw both teams
struggling to convert chances on the
inside, but the Pacers had the
better of things as Joe Buczko and
Matt Johnson each scored in double
figures without leaving the paint
for a shot. Kevin Raab (6 points)
and Dylan Lee (4 points) each came
off the bench to give the Eagles an
inside presence on the offensive end
of the floor, but the Pacers
continued to get looks around the
basket and led 35-34 at the break.
Both teams shot just over 40% for
the first half.
The second half saw both teams
looking to push the ball early, and
resulted in some easy baskets in
transition. The visiting Eagles
looked to get the ball inside
against the smaller Pacer backcourt,
and were able to create several
chances for three point plays from
Lenny DiMaria, David Volpe, and
Brent Williams. At the other end of
the floor, Adam Wildasin found his
range and hit for ten points in the
second half, and Buczko continued to
catch and finish around the rim.
Eastern shot 16 for 25 in the second
half and committed just six
turnovers. Even with the high
production at the offensive end of
the floor, the Eagles could only
gather a single offensive rebound in
the second half, and had the Pacers
right at their heels all the way to
the finish. After trailing by six at
just two minutes into the second
half, the Eagles responded with a
10-2 run over the next four minutes.
Volpe scored a pair of baskets to
fuel the Eastern run.
With just over thirteen minutes to
play Volpe hit a three off a nice
kickout from DiMaria. He then made a
steal at midcourt and fired a blind
pass to Brent Williams who converted
the lay in to give the Eagles their
biggest lead of the second half at
the thirteen minute mark. The Pacers
refused to go away, and two minutes
later they tied the game at 56 on a
three pointer from Jeff Moen.
DiMaria answered the three point
shot when he finished an old
fashioned three point play with a
left handed lay in and a free throw.
Volpe then scored on a baseline
drive to push the Eagle lead back to
five with nine minutes to play.
Marywood answered with four straight
on a pair of free throws and an
inside bucket from Prince Blacknall,
and the two teams would not be
separated by more than four points
the rest of the way.
A
Williams three point play at the
eight minute mark lifted the Eagles
to a four point lead, but the Pacers
immediately scored four straight to
tie the game. After a DiMaria free
throw put the game on an odd number
and another inside basket from the
senior lifted Eastern to a 67-64
lead, the Pacers responded with a
6-2 run to retake the lead with just
over two and a half minutes to play.
Eastern responded with an inside
basket from Malloy after a steal and
a nice feed from Volpe. Moen dropped
in a layup at the two minute mark to
put the Pacers back up 72-71.
Eastern then found DiMaria
underneath again and the senior
guard muscled in his twentieth point
of the game to put the visitors up
73-72. The Eastern defense, which
had struggled to generate stops all
evening, buckled down late with
three consecutive stops to overcome
missed free throws late.
Coach Nadelhoffer said of the game,
"It's always something up here. We
went through a stretch where I
didn't think we were ever going to
get a stop. The guys made some big
plays down the stretch and made the
plays at the defensive end when we
needed them. After a tough loss
Saturday we needed to figure out a
way to get a W here."
DiMaria led Eastern with 20 points,
and Volpe scored 17. Matt Malloy had
12 points and six rebounds. The
Eagles return home Thursday night
against Immaculata.
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