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In the
closing moments of Eastern's
Thursday night home loss to Gwynedd-Mercy
College, the Eagles began to put
together an intensity at both ends
of the court that brought them back
into the game and seemed to suggest
that the team was finding its
identity. While one game does not
constitute a trend, if this
afternoon's 68-47 win over
conference foe Arcadia was any
indication, the Eastern Men's
basketball team is going to provide
for an entertaining winter of
hard-nosed basketball.
The
Eagles used tough interior defense
to force 12 first half turnovers and
limit the Scarlet Knights to 38%
first half shooting to run out to a
31-24 lead. Matt Malloy led the way
for the Eagles in the opening frame
with seven points and seven tough
rebounds, but the real story of the
first half was the depth of Coach
Nadelhoffer's squad. The home side
got solid performances off the bench
from Jason Reels, Chris Myers, and
Dan Piotrowski to spark the team on
runs. Piotrowski made an instant
impact with two steals, a tough
inside hoop, and a long three
pointer.
 In the
second half, the Eagles responded to
a Dave Boettcher with a 14-1 run in
the first six minutes. Junior guard
David Volpe stuck a pair of three
pointers to push the Eastern
advantage to 18. After Andrew Martin
scored an inside hoop to stop the
run, the Eagles refused to let up
and stuck in another 7-2 run to take
the lead over 20 where it would
remain for the entire last thirteen
minutes of the game.
The
disciplined Eagles shot 61% for the
second half. Volpe hit all six of
his second half shots en route to a
season high 21 point performance. No
other Eastern player scored in
double figures as the offense moved
the ball very well. Malloy and Mike
Johnson both finished with nine
points and eight boards, and Johnson
chipped in with eight assists. Lenny
DiMaria also poured in nine for the
Eagles. Boetcher led the Scarlet
Knights with 15 and was joined in
double figures by Martin with 10.
Eastern held Arcadia to just 23%
shooting in the second half.
Eastern(2-3, 1-1) returns to
action Monday evening with another
key PAC game at College Misericordia.
BOX
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