The Cougars, entering the game at 1-6, provided a great battle in the first half and took a three point lead into the half. After half, the Eastern defense took the ball away repeatedly and quickly stole the lead. Sophomore Matt Flanagan, playing in front of his hometown fans, scored six points in 25 seconds to help the the Eagles to their biggest lead in regulation at 51-44.
The Cougars would not go away, and pushed to a one point lead with three minutes left. Volpe put the Eagles up two with a minute left on a three pointer with two and a half minutes remaining. After the two teams traded baskets and the Cougars hit a free throw to pull within one, Lenny DiMaria hit two free throws with 15 seconds left to give the visiting Eagles a 64-61 lead. A miracle three point shot by Tony Rezykowski banked in as the clock wound down to four and a half seconds. Eastern's desperation three at the buzzer rimmed out, and the game went to the extra frame.
Vinny Baumonk hit the opening shot of the overtime to give the Cougars their biggest lead since the halfway point of the second half at 66-64. Kenny Neal responded with an eight foot floater in the lane to tie the game for Eastern.
After a Misericordia turnover, Volpe connected on a three on a nice kick out from Lenny Dimaria. After Flanagan split a pair at the foul line, DiMaria again found Volpe in the corner for another three to push the lead to 73-68. Another DiMaria assist with just over a minute remaining set up senior forward Chris McMonagle on a twisting lay up. Up seven, the Eagles made enough free throws and took care of the ball to improve to 3-1 in the PAC and 6-2 overall.
Bobby Black pitched in 14 points and Flanagan and Corey Copeland also reached double figures with 12 and 10 points respectively. Flanagan scored his twelve points on just seven shots. Rezykowski led the Cougars and all scorers with 21. The Eagles are off until after the Christmas Holidays.
Coach Nadelhoffer said of the game, "We found a way. After such a mediocre first half, I liked the energy we brought to the second half and the overtime. David [Volpe] hit some big shots, and I thought Flanagan gave us a nice lift as well. I also liked the fact that we shot 28 foul shots in the second half. That shows that our aggressiveness was where it needed to be. To come up here and get a win in our third game of the week is a good accomplishment for the team. We still have work to do, but this is a good starting point for us to work from going into second semester."