Center Valley, PA (January 29, 2011) – A furious rally by Eastern University with just over five minutes left was spoiled when senior Brian Hunter scored nine straight points leading the DeSales University men's basketball team past the Eagles, 88-81, in an important Freedom Conference game on Saturday afternoon in Billera Hall.
Hunter was outstanding on Saturday finishing with 27 points, six rebounds, and nine assists for the Bulldogs (14-5, 5-3 Freedom). Sophomore Brett Moyer also played well with 20 points and seven boards as both Moyer and Hunter combined to shoot 20-for-23 from the free throw line.
Junior Bob Zanneo added nine points off the bench and sophomore Greg Peters continued his solid play off the pine with a career-high seven points in the win.
Eastern (11-6, 4-4 Freedom) got 23 points from junior Martin Soaries and 11 points from sophomore Alex Nelson as the only two double digit scorers for the Eagles.
DeSales seemed to have complete control of this game at the 5:05 mark, up 12 points (69-57), when Eastern put five guards on the floor and furiously rallied as the Bulldogs turned the ball over five times over the next three minutes and seemed out of sorts.
A 17-4 Eastern run was highlighted by pull-up three from Soaries as the Eagle bench roared with excitement.
DSU's Hunter was up to the challenge.
He brilliantly found Moyer immediately on the other end and Moyer converted an old-fashioned three-point play putting the Bulldogs back on top by two. Justin McClelland cashed in his own three-point play on the other end, staking Eastern to another one-point lead (77-76) with 1:46 left.
Hunter hit nothing but net on a deep three on the next possession starting a stretch where the DSU senior scored nine of the next 11 points in the game, turning a one-point deficit into a six-point Bulldog lead (85-79) with 39 seconds left and ultimately the win.
The first half saw DeSales hit back-to-back three's to break a tie at 11 and led by seven with two minutes left before nine straight points put Eastern up two with 34 ticks left. A lay-up from freshman Michael Coleman tied the game and Hunter made a steal on the other end and just beat the halftime buzzer with an uncontested lay-up helping the Bulldogs run into the locker room with a two-point advantage.
DeSales torched the nets to the tune of 55.3 percent shooting overall. The Bulldogs made 9-of-18 from downtown and were 27-of-33 (81.8%) from the free throw line. Eastern also shot well from the line (16-of-19 – 84.2%) but shot just 43.8 percent from the field for the game.
No rest for the weary as the Bulldogs return home on Wednesday in another critical Freedom Conference game with Manhattanville College, a 115-111 double overtime winner over King's on Saturday. Tip for Wednesday night is set for 8:00 pm.