The Knights used physical defending and fourteen first half points from senior forward Andre Wright to forge a 39-34 halftime lead. Neumann held their biggest lead of the game at 37-31 with two minutes remaining in the half. The Eagles cut the deficit to three when Chris McMonagle split a pair from the line and Ben Easley found a cutting Mike Johnson underneath the hoop for an easy reverse. After an Easley steal, the Eagles tried to hold the ball for a final shot, but got caught by the four second differential with a shot clock violation. Neumann’s Mike Hitchens attempted a desperation three pointer as the clock expired and was awarded three foul shots when his shot was blocked. The freshman guard hit two of three and Neumann went into the break up five.
The Eagles struggled through a 12-29 (41.4%) shooting half with only three made three pointers. Lenny DiMaria led Eastern into the break with seven points and just two field goals. The positive side of the deficit was the fact that the visiting Eagles played eleven players and appeared to be wearing down their hosts.
The Knights came out in the second half committed to slowing the pace of the game, while the Eagles seemed to want to run. Chris McMonagle and Bryan Nadlehoffer each hit a pair of free throws in the opening minutes as Eastern closed the gap to a single point. After a Wright three point play bumped the Neumann lead to four, Corey Copeland drilled a three pointer from the top of the key to close the gap again. DiMaria pushed the Eagles into the lead when he converted on the break after a Bobby Black steal.
The lead changed hands several times over the next few minutes as Black hit a pair of three pointers and the Knights continued to find inside baskets. With the Knights up 53-51 Easley stole a ball and fired it forward to Matt Malloy who was fouled hard from behind as he went to the hoop. The sophomore forward calmly stepped to the line and tied the game with two free throws. After a Neumann offensive foul, DiMaria found his way inside again to lift the Eagles to a 55-53 advantage with eight and a half minutes remaining. From there, the hosts scored the next five points and built a lead up 66-60 when Eric Lawton hit his second three pointer of the game with four and a half minutes to go.
The Eagles put together an 18-7 run over the last four and a half minutes to win the game. The run started with DiMaria making his only three of the game from the right wing. After the Knights split a pair from the line, Easley scored on a drive from the top of the key. A loose ball foul on the hosts gave the Eagles possession down two points at the three minute mark. Sophomore point guard David Volpe found an opening at the top of the key and delivered an icy three pointer to lift the Eagles into the lead. Neumann was able to forge a tie at 70, but another Easley field goal put Eastern up two. When McMonagle forced Wright into an inside miss and then wrestled a jump ball from the bigger Wright to give the Eagles possession with thirty-four second remaining, the Knights had no choice but to foul. Black nailed four straight foul shots, and Volpe hit a pair to close out the game.
Though they struggled from the field (41%), Eastern shot a very solid 17-18 free throws in the second half. In addition, the Eagles hit five of seven from three point range in the second frame. Neumann put up nearly opposite statistics with 11-19 two point shooting, but only 1-6 from deep and 11-20 from the foul line. Black led three Eagles in double figures with 19. DiMaria, who looked like a prize fighter coming out of the game persevered to score 16 while Easley chipped in 13 in just over nineteen minutes of action. Wright put up a game high 26, and Mike Hitchens and Ronnie Fields also hit double figures with 14 and 13 points respectively for the hosts.
The Eagles return to action at 7:00 Monday night when they host Gwynedd-Mercy College in another PAC game with playoff implications.