Senior guard Lenny DiMaria, who hit for 18 points on the day, got the Eagles going early as he scored six points in an opening 10-5 run. The patriots cut the deficit to 10-9 on a pair of free throws from James Fulton and an inside basket from Keith Watkins. Coleman then answered with his first three pointer of the day and an inside basket off a pass from Jason Reels. Coleman, who hit five three pointers in six attempts for the day, led all scorers at the break with nine. The Eagles also got solid interior defending from Mike Johnson who blocked seven first half shots and pulled down six boards. Matt Flanagan hit three free throws to end the half and give the Eagles a 38-28 cushion at the break.
The second half saw the Eagles move forward in fits and starts, but never seem to find a rhythm. It did seem,however, the Coleman was there to answer every time the Patriots cut into the lead. Coleman said of his effort, "They just gave me open shots and I took them. It was as simple as that I guess. I was accurate today, thank goodness"
The Eagles twice led by 17, but could never gain further separation as the Patriots were able to take advantage of their offensive rebounding to score 12 second chance points in the second. Watkins and Justyn Mitchell led the Patriots with ten point efforts for the day.
Eastern was able to force 12 second half turnovers and converted for 16 points off those to make a difference in the game. David Volpe joined Coleman and DiMaria in double figures with ten and added a game high seven assists. Johnson finished the day with nine points, eight boards, eight blocks, four assists and three steals.
Eastern Coach Matt Nadelhoffer said of the game, "They (Valley Forge) played hard, and have some very talented players, I thought we played with really good intensity in spurts, and then we let up and let them back in a little. We need to build on those moments of good intensity as we go into the rest of the year."
Eastern returns to action Monday evening with another home non-conference game against Rutgers-Camden before traveling across the street for a Thursday night league battle at Cabrini.
Visitors: Valley Forge Christian Patriots ## Name P FG 3 Pt FT PTS ORB DRB TR PF AST TO BS ST MIN 1 * James Fulton* G 2/11 0/3 4/5 8 0 0 0 3 3 4 0 1 27:29 2 * Keith Watkins G 4/8 2/4 0/0 10 1 4 5 2 4 6 0 2 30:07 3 * Justyn Mitchell G 4/8 2/5 0/0 10 2 2 4 2 0 1 0 0 20:39 4 * Steven Pierantozzi* F 2/11 0/1 3/7 7 5 5 10 1 1 0 0 1 31:21 5 * Zachary Housand* F 4/5 0/0 0/1 8 1 5 6 4 0 0 0 2 21:59 10 Timothy Latiff G 0/0 0/0 0/0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 DNP 11 Joshua Osborn G 1/1 1/1 0/0 3 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 5:39 12 Mike Wilkerson* G 2/5 2/4 0/0 6 0 1 1 0 1 3 0 0 16:27 20 Sean Squire G 1/3 0/2 2/4 4 1 3 4 0 3 3 0 0 16:03 21 Brent Troyer G 0/0 0/0 0/0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 DNP 25 Chris Freeman F 3/4 0/0 0/0 6 1 0 1 1 0 2 0 0 17:33 30 Ryan Frizzell G 0/0 0/0 0/0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 DNP 32 Eric Addison F 0/0 0/0 0/0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 DNP 34 Rafael Twiggs G 2/3 0/0 0/0 4 3 0 3 1 0 0 0 0 11:41 30 Mike Buezkowski 0/0 0/0 0/0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 DNP 23 John Gil 0/0 0/0 0/0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1:02 0/0 0/0 0/0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 DNP 0/0 0/0 0/0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 DNP Team 1 4 5 1 Totals 25/59 7/20 9/17 66 15 24 39 15 12 21 0 6 200 Total FG 1st Half 9/28 32.1% 2nd Half 16/31 51.6% Game 25/59 42.4% 3 PT FG 1st Half 3/9 33.3% 2nd Half 4/11 36.4% Game 7/20 35.0% Free Throws 1st Half 7/10 70.0% 2nd Half 2/7 28.6% Game 9/17 52.9% Home: Eastern University Eagles ## Name P FG 3 Pt FT PTS ORB DRB TR PF AST TO BS ST MIN 1 Brent Williams G 0/0 0/0 0/0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 DNP 3 Jason Reels G 1/3 0/0 0/0 2 1 1 2 1 1 0 0 0 8:48 10 * David Volpe G 4/8 1/5 1/2 10 1 1 2 2 7 2 0 2 33:43 11 Matt Flanagan G 0/5 0/3 3/3 3 2 0 2 1 1 0 0 0 9:48 23 * Lenny DiMaria G 7/15 2/4 2/3 18 1 4 5 2 5 3 0 2 33:49 32 * Matt Malloy F 3/5 0/0 1/1 7 0 6 6 3 2 2 1 3 25:53 33 * Mike Johnson F 3/5 2/3 1/5 9 1 7 8 1 4 2 8 3 32:38 40 Kevin Raab F 1/1 0/0 0/0 2 0 0 0 1 1 1 0 0 4:00 12 Dan Piotrowski G 1/3 0/0 1/2 3 0 1 1 2 0 1 0 0 7:40 25 Christopher Myers G 0/1 0/0 0/0 0 0 2 2 1 1 0 0 0 10:15 44 Justin Allphin C 0/0 0/0 0/0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 DNP 54 Dylan Lee C 0/0 0/0 0/0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 DNP 24 Marvin Jones F 0/0 0/0 0/0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 DNP 20 Joe Bowman G 0/0 0/0 0/0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 DNP 21 * Tyrone Coleman G 10/13 5/6 0/0 25 3 2 5 2 2 2 0 0 33:26 Team 0 1 1 Totals 30/59 10/21 9/16 79 9 25 34 16 24 13 9 10 200 Total FG 1st Half 14/29 48.3% 2nd Half 16/30 53.3% Game 30/59 50.8% 3 PT FG 1st Half 5/12 41.7% 2nd Half 5/9 55.6% Game 10/21 47.6% Free Throws 1st Half 5/8 62.5% 2nd Half 4/8 50.0% Game 9/16 56.3% VFCC EUMB VFCC EUMB VFCC EUMB Free Throw Pts 9 9 3Pt Points 21 30 Pts/Possession 0.92 1.14 Pts off Turnovers 15 16 2nd Chance Points 19 7 Pts off Bench 23 10 Total Rebounds 39 34 Team Rebounds 5 1 Dead Ball Reb 2 3 Off Rebound % 37.5 27.3 Def Rebound % 72.7 62.5 Total Rebound % 53.4 46.6 Technical Fouls VFCC None EUMB None Officials Chris DeFelice, Michael Quarry, Tom Ackles 1st Half 2nd Half OT 1 OT 2 OT 3 OT 4 Total Valley Forge Christian Patriots 28 38 0 0 0 0 66 Eastern University Eagles 38 41 0 0 0 0 79