News Release

Washington, DC — Eastern uses second half burst to down Brockport….


From the opening minutes, the first game of the Catholic University Pepsi Classic had the looks of a shootout. The Eastern University Eagles rode the wave of a sixty-three point second half to overcome a thirteen point deficit and outrace the Brockport State 111-98 to improve to 7-2 on the season.

The Brockport Golden Eagles, wearing white for the game, looked perfectly at home in the DuFour center as the shot the ball without flaw in the early moments of the contest racing to a 23-13 lead just five minutes into the contest. The pace of the game appeared to be taking its toll on the bigger team from New York, and while Eastern wasn’t hitting shots early, they were able to score with impunity by winning the race up the floor, as Bryan Nadelhoffer, Chris McMonagle, and Lenny DiMaria each scored points to start to chip away at the Brockport lead.

Hot outside shooting from Brockport’s Ben Belluci and inside scoring from John Rother helped the Golden Eagles to push their lead to a 47-35 lead with five minutes to go in the half. Eastern continued to push the ball and finished the half on a 13-6 run to close the gap to five at intermission. Bobby Black, who finished with a team high 29 for the game hit the last 11 points of the half for the Eagles as the fatigued Brockport players consistently lost the standout junior in transition and the Eastern team found their hot hand. Black, who scored the first five Eastern points as well, finished the half with 16. Belucci led all scorers at the break with 17.

Down five, the Eastern coaching staff showed confidence at the half. Coach Nadelhoffer commented, “You could see it in their eyes. They were not going to be able to keep up the pace of the game, and we knew our guys could. We gave up some easy inside baskets in the first half, but we didn’t feel that their size would be a factor in the second half.”

On the first possession of the second half, senior Corey Copeland caught a pass from fellow guard Lenny DiMaria underneath and powered the ball into the basket for a three point play. Though Brockport answered with a Jerry Cheeves three at the other end, the Eastern team’s commitment to score from the inside resulted in an 11-1 run that gave Coach Nadelhoffer’s boys their first lead of the game.

Up 71-67 at the fourteen minute mark the Eagles used nine points on a trio of three point baskets by DiMaria to fuel an 11-2 run and swell the Eastern advantage to 13. From that point, the Eagles were able to find back door opportunities and score nearly at will against the exhausted but still potent Brockport side. Sophomore Mike Johnson, who scored ten second half points was able to use his quickness to score inside and out, and Bryan Nadelhoffer finished around the rim to score four inside baskets as well. Eastern shot 66% with sixteen assists and only six turnovers for the second half.

Coach Nadelhoffer said of the game, “We stayed disciplined to our system, and our guys showed how much they bought into what we are trying to do, Brockport would put together runs, but our guys continued to value the system and to run the floor. To come back from the early deficit will only give us more confidence.

The win marks the third time this year Eastern has topped the hundred point mark. For the game, Eastern shot 57% from the field and 42% from the three point line. Black, who led the Eagles with 29 points, took only 16 shots for the game and hit a stunning six of eight from distance. Six Eastern players hit double figures on the night. Belucci led all scorers with 31 and played all forty minutes.

Eastern returns to action tomorrow at 4:00 in the championship game of the CUA Pepsi classic against the winner of the Catholic Drew game.