KEENE, N.H.– Eastern University Men's Basketball continued the team's historic run with a hard-fought 80-79 win over The College of New Jersey in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament. The Eagles (21-7) led by as much a 13 in the first half but needed some late defensive heroics to advance to the second round of the NCAA Tournament for the first time in program history. The Eagles will play the host Keene State Owls in front of a packed Spaulding Gymnasium tomorrow evening at 6:15.
The Eagles got back-to-back 3-pointers from Eljay Morris and Kaeshawn Ward to go up 78-69 with four minutes left, but the Lions responded with an 8-to-0 run over the next three minutes. Zubair Lee found a cutting Arkese Claiborne for a strong finish at the rim build the lead back to three at 80-77 with 53 seconds to play. Claiborne finished with 17 points on 7-of-9 shooting.
The Lions (20-9)made two free throws to pull within point, and they earned a stop after a lengthy Eastern possession. With the Lions attacking the rim, Claiborne blocked the shot and grabbed the lead to preserve the advantage. After missing the front end of the one-and-one, the Eagles needed another defensive stop. The Eagles rallied to contest the ball at the rim and a tough lay-up attempt rimmed out as time expired.
"At this level, its just about survive and advance," Head Coach Dan Pruessner said after the game. "They (TCNJ) are really tough. Watching them on film does not do them justice. Their point guard (Nick Koch) is such a tough guard and the Matthew Solomon is a really smart passer, rebounder, and great finisher around the rim."
"Arkese has really come into his own this second half of the year," Pruessner continued. "His block at the end was enormous."
TCNJ made 19-of-21 free throws for the game and 12-of-14 in the second half. The Eagles made only 3-of-7 and missed all three front-ends.
Kaeshawn Ward had 11 of his 16 points in the second half. The senior guard finished with six assists and only one turnover.
Jaron Fairweather had 14 of his 18 points in the first half. He had a stretch where he scored ten points on four shots in two minutes. The Eagles built off that momentum as Claiborne and Davin Hernandez each hit 3-pointers and the lead grew to 35-22 as Kevin Reeves tipped in a Fairweather miss. Nine different Eastern players scored in the first half, but the Lions closed the gap to three before Ward made a free throw to end the half.
The Eagles shot 52.9 percent from the floor in the first half and made 14-of-28 shots in the second half.The Eagles have shot 50 percent or better from the floor in all six halves since entering the post-season last week. The Eagles made 8-of-18 3-pointers in the game.
"I remember two years ago when we walked into the press room after our loss to Rochester," Pruessner continued. "The first thing out of Jaron's mouth was, 'we will be back here.' He has been a tremendous leader in the way he works and prepares."
Zubair Lee picked up his 15th double-double of the year with 10 points and 12 rebounds.
The Lions made only 11-of-35 second half shots, but they had 11 offensive rebounds and had the huge advantage at the free throw line to get more attempts. Led by Morris with three, the Eagles finished the game with nine blocked shots.
Early in the gmae, Fairweather picked up his 500th career rebound. After the game, he joked that he had come into the game tied with Draig Cooley at 497 and that he had to finish ahead of him. Fairweather then spoke about the importance of the players he played with and their impact.
"Draig is one of those guys that helped build this program" Fairweather said. "He already texted me. Those guys are what we are building on. We would not be here without what they did."
The historic win is the 21st of the year which ties the Division III high-water mark set by the team that reached the NCAA Tournament in 2021-22.
Eastern will be receive an allotment of tickets for the game. Ticket information will be released as soon as it becomes available.