Center Valley, PA (January 23, 2019) - The DeSales University men's basketball team couldn't overcome a tough shooting first-half dropping its first MAC Freedom game of the season, 67-63, to Eastern University on Wednesday evening in Billera Hall.

The Basics

• Eastern - 67, DeSales - 63
• Final Score: DeSales (12-5, 5-1 Conf.); Eastern (11-7, 5-2 Conf.)

How it Happened

• DSU scored the first five points of the game and led for the first six minutes of the game before going cold for a stretch of four minutes as the Eagles took its first lead (16-13).
• Trailing 16-13, the Bulldogs used a 13-4 run over the span of nearly 10 minutes to build a 26-20 lead at the 4:53 mark of the opening half.
• DeSales went ice cold from that point missing its last eight shots of the half as Eastern closed the half on a 9-0 run to take a 29-26 lead into the locker room.
• After DSU scored the first two buckets of the second-half, Eastern used a 10-0 run to grab a 39-30 lead at the 15:34 mark.
• DeSales chipped away at the advantage and regained control with a 9-0 spurt led by five points from sophomore Timmy Edwards to take a 46-43 lead with 8:15 remaining.
• The Bulldogs led 51-50 when EU scored seven points in the span of 1:13 to take a 57-51 lead but DSU answered with five quick points out of a timeout to pull within one (57-56) at the 4:06 mark.
• A three from EU's Darius Washington pushed the advantage back to four but DeSales went cold again missing its next five shots and going 0-for-4 from the charity stripe over the next 3:34 as Eastern led 64-56.
• After several missed free throws from the Eagles, DSU was able to get within two points (65-63) with four seconds left but Washington hit two freebies with 2.9 ticks left icing the win for Eastern.

Top Bulldog Performers

• Senior Luke Connaghan led DSU with 13 points and pulled down seven boards.
• Junior Julian Wing had 11 points and sophomore Matt Kachelries finished with seven points, 10 rebounds, and seven assists.

For the Foes

• EU got double digits from four guys including Austin Duncan (16), Michael Bowlers (15), Draig Ruff (13), and Washington (12).
• Ruff added a double-double pulling down a game-high 14 rebounds.

Inside the Box Score

• DSU dug itself a hole hitting just 23.7 percent from the field in the opening half.
• The Bulldogs did shoot better (51.6%) in the second-half but converted just 36.2 percent for the game.
• DeSales also struggled from the free throw line hitting just 5-for-12 from the charity stripe.
• DSU did take good care of the ball committing just 11 turnovers and the bench our-scored Eastern's, 25-5, for the game.

Up Next

• DeSales takes to the road looking to start a new winning streak when they travel to King's College for a MAC Freedom contest set to begin at 3:00 pm on Saturday.