Bulldogs Drop Second Straight, 54-42, at Eastern

Junior Brian Hunter had two three's in the loss at Eastern on Saturday afternoon.

Box Score

BOX SCORE

St. David's, PA (February 14, 2009) – The DeSales University men's basketball team got off to slow starts in each half and scored just 42 points, dropping their second straight Freedom Conference game, 54-42, at Eastern University on Saturday in Freedom Conference action.

The loss drops the Bulldogs (18-5, 10-4 Freedom) into a tie for first place with Manhattanville College (a 47-45 winner over Misericordia) with two games to play in the final week of the regular season. Eastern improves to 15-8 overall and 9-6 in the Freedom entering the final week of the regular season.

DeSales struggled to put points on the board all afternoon but particularly at the beginning of each half. The first points of the game were not scored until the 16:03 mark when freshman Tyrik Tucker hit a three-pointer giving EU a 3-0 lead. After a lay-up from senior Ed Lapinski (Red Hill, PA/Upper Perkiomen) finally got the Bulldogs on the board at the 14:32 mark, the Eagles went on a 7-0 run to take a 12-2 lead at the 13:45 mark.

DSU chipped away at the lead the rest of the half and finished the opening twenty minutes on a 7-2 run to trail by just six points, 27-21, at the break. The Bulldogs shot 45.0 percent in the opening half but was just 2-for-6 from the free throw line and committed t10 turnovers.

The second half started off the same as the first as DeSales struggled to score. The Bulldogs mustered just four points over the first 11:45 as Eastern opened up a 16-point lead, 41-25. DSU tried to make a run and used a 12-4 run over the next five and a half minutes to get within eight at the 2:48 mark but Eastern hit 4-of-6 free throws over the next minute to ice the home court win.

Lapinski finished with his fifth double-double of the season totaling 17 points and 10 rebounds, while junior Darnell Braswell (Allentown, PA/William Allen) added nine points and 10 boards. Sophomore Brian Hunter (Allentown, PA/Emmaus) finished with eight points and four steals in the loss.

Tucker totaled a game-high 20 points, while fellow freshman Martin Soaries added 12 points, four assists, and three steals in the win.

The Bulldogs return to action and home on Tuesday, February 17^th when they host Delaware Valley College in the final regular season home game for the Bulldogs beginning at 8:00 pm. You can follow the game's progress via LIVE stats or LIVE audio if you are unable to attend.

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