ST. DAVIDS, Pa.–The first night of December is also the opening night of league play for teams in the Freedom Conference. If the preseason poll is to be believed, this year figures to go down to the wire. With that thought in mind, Eastern University Men's Basketball entered the evening knowing the importance of winning at home in the opener. The Eagles shot well from the perimeter and secured key rebounds in critical moments to best King's College (2-3, 0-1) 62-52 in grinding physical contest.
Neither team was able to find any space for shots in the opening minutes, and midway through the first period the Eagles led 9-8. King's grabbed a 10-9 lead on a Chris Hobson lay-in with nine minutes to play. Eastern then closed out the first half on a 16-9 run.
Collin Whipple seemed to be everywhere in that spell. The junior guard penetrated into the lane and set up Corey Gordon for a three pointer. He then finished a lay-up in transition for a four point edge. With seven minutes to play he again found his way into the traffic inside before kicking to the perimeter for an open three pointer. Chaz Merriman-Brown had his feet set on the wing and knocked down the open look. Whipple created another open look for Merriman-Brown in answer to a King's basket. Through the run, Whipple dished out three assists and scored five points to help the Eagles to a 25-17 lead at half.
"In practice, Coach emphasizes being patient on offense," Whipple said, "especially when the team is in a zone. So we were patient and worked the ball around." The junior captain also knows that part of beating a zone is taking responsibility for getting into the middle. As the shot clock ticked down on each first-half possession, he was able to create good chances.
The Eagles held the lead through to the finish, but it was never easy. King's cut into the lead several times, but each time, a new Eastern player seemed to step up to make a play. On several different occasions Don Kaiser was the guy to step up and make the play. The junior center made himself available around the basket and converted on 5-6 attempts in the second half. Several of those shots came with only seconds remaining on the shot clock.
"We want our guys," Head Coach Matt Nadelhoffer said after the game, "to focus on three things: character, attitude, and effort. We want them to maximize that each day. I thought our bench did a great job with that tonight, staying in it the whole game." The Eagles got 29 of their 62 points from non-starters.
With 1:34 on the clock King's called a timeout down seven. At that point in the game, the Eagles had only three offensive rebounds, and Alex Nelson, Eastern's leading scorer, who entered the evening averaging 21 points per game, had just three points. King's scored a basket and sent Mike Donatoni to the line. The Eastern point guard hit the first one, but missed the second.
In discussing the game afterwards Nadelhoffer reflected on the timeout. "We always preach 'next play.'" he said, "We want our guys to be thinking ahead. I looked at Alex, who was not having an Alex Nelson day, and told him to focus and finish strong. He went back out there and pulled down two rebounds. I thought that was a great response - it was huge. he could have gotten all into thinking about himself or how he only had three points, but instead he made huge plays."
Nelson grabbed the rebound of the Donatoni miss and powered a lay-up through a foul for a three point play to effectively end the game. Though they struggled at the foul line as a group, Donatoni made 5-6 down the stretch, and the Eagles seemed to solve the mystery of the thre point line with a 6-12 effort from distance.
Nadelhoffer wrapped up the day saying, "We know we have to win at home. All the home teams in the Freedom won tonight. Our goal is to hold people to 58 points and we held them to 52. I thought we did a very very good job for most of the game. We like it when it comes down to effort, and that's what happened tonight. We practice tomorrow at 7 a.m. I just told the guys, tomorrow is a new day and we are at ground zero. Each day is another chance to attack our roles and improve."
Whipple finished with 13 to lead the Eagles. Dan Miller and Merriman Brown each added eight off the bench. Kevin Conroy and Kyle Stackhouse tallied 13 for the visitors. Stackhouse led all rebounders with 11.
The Eagles (5-1, 1-0 Freedom) travel to Misericordia on Saturday to try to earn a road win in the league.