WINCHESTER, Va.– Eastern University Men's Basketball used a 22-to-9 run in the second half and held on to earn a 73-71 season-opening win over the Roanoke College Maroons in the opening game of the Winchester Sports Medicine Team Tipoff Classic. Zubair Lee finished with 28 points and nine rebounds to lead the Eagles in the defensive battle.

Eastern (1-0) led 31-30 at halftime and scored the opening basket of the second before the Maroons scored 12-straight points to lead 42-33 with 14 minutes to play. Lee scored on a pass from Connor Fleet to stop the run, and the Eagles had cut the lead to 42-40  with 12 minutes to play.

That burst, however, was not enough to put the Eagles on top, and the Maroons held a 51-46 lead with 9:33 to play.

An encouragement for the Eagles, however, was the progressive foul trouble for the Maroons. Roanoke big man Gavin O'Malley fouled out with 12:32 to play.

The decisive run of the game started with nine minutes left. DaRon Sherman split a pair at the line to start the journey back. Davin Hernandez hit two-out-of-three free throws. After the teams traded baskets, Lee scored inside to close the gap to 55-53. Seconds later, Sherman knocked a ball loose and threw ahead to Arkese Claiborne for a lay-in and a tie score.

After another good defensive set, Lee put the Eagles up 57-55 with a step-back jumper. He doubled that lead after he and Davin Hernandez combined on a trap. Hernandez wound up with the ball but touched it to Lee for an easy lay-in. The lead grew to nine after a nice driving lay-up from Claiborne and 3-pointer from the top of the key by Olise Onyeka for a nine-point lead with 3:32 to play. Onyeke finished with seven points, six blocks, and six rebounds.

Roanoke (0-1) refused to go quietly and took advantage of a pair of three-point plays and a few unsteady Eastern trips to the line to close the gap to two points with five seconds left. An errant Eastern outlet pass gave the Maroons a late desperation shot that rimmed out.

Lee made nine field goals and nine free throws and grabbed nine defensive rebounds. The Eagles had five players make a 3-pointer, but no Eastern player made more than one long-range effort. Claiborne was hampered by foul trouble but finished with 12 points.

The Eagles made only 8-of-21 first half shots from the floor but made 11 free throws to hold the lead at the break. The Eastern defense was stifling early. Roanoke scored its 11th point with *:51 to play in the opening half.

"It is great to open with a win over a quality team." Head Coach Dan Pruessner said after the game. "We definitely have some things to work on, but there was a lot of good things we did today as well. We weathered a tough stretch in each half. Our defense is going to have to carry us for a little while until we truly find our identity on offense. Josh Harris came on and gave us some good minutes with Arkese in foul trouble We have a short time to recover and prepare for another tough game against a team at home tomorrow."

Joshua McClary scored 15 points on 7-of-20 shooting to pace four Maroons in double-figures. Though the Eagles were called for 20 fouls in the match, the Maroons took only 13 free throws in the game. The Eagles lost to Roanoke in early season match-ups in 2021 and 2023.

The Eagles will take on the host Hornets of Shenandoah University tomorrow at 4:00 pm.