St. David's, PA (January 3, 2018) - The DeSales University men's basketball team opened up the MAC Freedom schedule with a 78-67 loss at Eastern University on Wednesday evening.

The Bulldogs (9-3, 0-1 MAC Freedom) were led by sophomore Kweku Dawson-Amoah with a double-double (13 points, 10 rebounds), while sophomore Tracy Simsick added 11 points and senior Connor Jones tossed in 10 points.

The Eagles (6-6, 1-0 MAC Freedom) saw four players reach double digits including Victor Pena with 13 points and 13 rebounds, Antonio Chapman with 22 points, Austin James with 15 points, and Austin Duncan with 12 points.

After Jones hit a three early to give DSU an 8-6 lead EU caught fire hitting four three-pointers over the next four minutes to take a 21-12 lead mid-way thru the half.  It was five-point game at the 4:11 mark when the Eagles finished the half on a 16-7 run to take a 14-point cushion into the locker room (49-35).  Eastern was on fire from deep hitting 9-of-14, including four treys from Chapman.

Eastern continued to build a lead thru the first 10 minutes taking a 25-point lead after a three-point play from Duncan at the 9:27 mark.  DSU caught fire after that play using a 14-2 run over the next four minutes to pull within 13 (70-57) at the 5:36 mark and had good looks on its next two possessions to get within single digits but were unable to capitalize.

James ended the threat with a three at the 3:22 mark and the Bulldogs ran out of time late.

The Bulldogs had a tough shooting night, hitting just 37.9 percent from the field and were out-rebounded 36-34 for the game.  DSU did take good care of the ball committing just 12 turnovers and dished out 14 assists.

DeSales will look to rebound and end this two-game skid on Saturday when they return home to host Delaware Valley University in a MAC Freedom game set to begin at 3:00 pm.