The game started out with a strong defensive effort by both teams as the score read 9-10 past the 10 minute mark of the first half. The Eagles went on to open their largest lead of four points in the first half to 19-15 behind the strong play of sophomore Lenny Dimaria (Lincroft, NJ/Middletown South). Dimaria hit back to back field goals to give the Eagles the lead and finished the half with 6. The Knights closed the gap and finished the half up two, 26-24.
The second half again proved to be a close battle as there were eleven ties and ten lead changes in this hard-fought PAC match-up. Neumann opened strong with three straight field goals and led by five, but a Brent Williams (Easton, PA/Easton Area) three-pointer and a Kenny Neal (Prospect Park, PA/Interboro) jumper tied the game at 29-29, three and a half minutes into the half. From that point, Lenny Dimaria scored the Eagles next 12 points to give the Eagles their largest lead of six, 41-35. Neumann came right back with a 12 point run of their own to secure their largest lead at six, 53-47, with just under a minute to play. Eastern did not go away as Brent Williams again hit a three-pointer to close the gap to three, and then Chris McMonagle (Lancaster, PA/Lancaster Catholic) nailed a three from the corner to get the Eagles to within two with :23 seconds remaining. The Knights made good on their free throws in the final seconds to seal the win.
For the game, Brent Williams and Lenny Dimaria both netted season-highs finishing with 12 and 19 respectively. Brent was four of nine from the field including three out of four from behind the arc, and Lenny hit seven of twelve shots, two from downtown. The Eagles fall to 4-5 in conference play and will travel to College Misericordia on Monday, January 31st for a 7:30pm game. The Eagles will then host Wesley College on Wednesday, February 2nd at 8pm.