Eastern (5-3) used a 9-2 spurt late in the contest to open a 73-64 lead with 42 seconds left. David Volpe shot 4-for-4 from the line in that span and Brent Williams scored three points.
The Eagles shot 50 percent (13-of-26) from the floor in the second half and were 12-for-15 from the line. They closed the game hitting 52 percent (28-of-54) from the field.
Volpe scored 18 points on 5-of-8 shooting and Lenny DiMaria also netted 18. Mike Johnson poured in 12 points, Williams had 10 and Matt Malloy hauled in nine rebounds.
Senior Malcolm Thomas scored 26 points and grabbed a career-high 15 rebounds for Widener, which shot 43 percent (29-of-68) but was only 9-of-24 from 3-point range and 3-for-8 from the line. Senior Essien Ford netted 20 points with five 3-pointers.
Thomas finished with seven offensive rebounds, helping Widener (6-5) to a 20-10 edge. The home team owned a 41-32 rebound advantage overall.
Widener on Friday plays its first road game in over a month, facing Rutgers-Camden at 7:00 pm.
Eastern vs Widener 1/03/07 7:00 pm at Chester, PA At Chester, PA EASTERN 76, WIDENER 70 EASTERN (5-3) Volpe, David 5-8 5-6 18; DiMaria, Lenny 6-11 6-6 18; Johnson, Mike 5-8 1-2 12; Williams, Brent 4-5 2-4 10; Reels, Jason 4-6 1-3 9; Malloy, Matt 2-8 0-0 4; Allphin, Justin 1-2 0-0 2; Coleman, Ty 1-3 0-0 2; Myers, Christopher 0-3 1-2 1. Totals 28-54 16-23 76. WIDENER (6-5) Thomas, Malcolm 12-23 1-2 26; Ford, Essien 7-17 1-2 20; Douglas, David 4-9 0-2 8; Smith, Terry 2-5 1-2 5; Miller, Nyere 1-2 0-0 3; Edmunds, Bobby 1-6 0-0 3; O'Connor, Brian 1-2 0-0 3; Sosna, Matt 1-1 0-0 2; Jones, James 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 29-68 3-8 70. Eastern....................... 37 39 - 76 Widener....................... 36 34 - 70 3-point goals-Eastern 4-12 (Volpe, David 3-6; Johnson, Mike 1-3; Coleman, Ty 0-2; DiMaria, Lenny 0-1), Widener 9-24 (Ford, Essien 5-10; Edmunds, Bobby 1-5; Miller, Nyere 1-1; Thomas, Malcolm 1-4; O'Connor, Brian 1-2; Jones, James 0-1; Douglas, David 0-1). Fouled out--Eastern-None, Widener-Smith, Terry. Rebounds-Eastern 32 (Malloy, Matt 9), Widener 41 (Thomas, Malcolm 15). Assists-Eastern 14 (Malloy, Matt 5; Johnson, Mike 5), Widener 12 (Miller, Nyere 4; Edmunds, Bobby 4). Total fouls-Eastern 12, Widener 18. A-295