Wilkes Men's Basketball Falls at Eastern as Robinson Reaches Season-High
ST. DAVID'S, Pa. – Marcus Robinson (Swedesboro, NJ/Kingsway Regional) finished with a season-high 27 points but a late second-half run lifted Eastern University to a 79-69 win in Middle Atlantic Conference Freedom (MAC Freedom) play on Saturday afternoon. Robinson finished just shy of his career high of 29 set back on January 13, 2016 against Misericordia.
The Colonels are now 4-4 in league play and 12-7 overall.
Eastern started the scoring 32 seconds into the game with a jumper, and following a turnover on the Colonels resulting possession, the Eagles converted one-of-two free throws to hold a 3-0 lead just under a minute following tip-off.
Wilkes got on the board at 18:54 with a Mark Mullins (Binghamton, NY/Chenango Valley) layup assisted by Tommy Bowen (Hummelstown, PA/Lower Dauphin). Eastern responded with a 4-0 run to hold a 7-2 lead with 17:19 showing before the Colonels responded with a 4-0 run of their own to cut the deficit back to one.
After two free throws put the Eagles back ahead by three, Wilkes responded with some much-needed defensive stops to keep the score at 9-6 before a Robinson layup started a 12-2 run that put the Colonels up 16-9 with 13:15 left until halftime. The run was led by Robinson with eight points.
Eastern finished the half out-scoring Wilkes 26-16 as the Colonels entered the break trailing 37-33.
Bowen hit a shot to start the second half and make the score 37-35 but the Eagles responded with a 5-0 run to go up 42-35 with 18:15 on the clock. A Connor Evans (Cicero, NY/Cicero-North Syracuse) layup and three-pointer from Robinson made the score 42-40 with just over 17 minutes to play.
Both teams traded baskets over the following six minutes with Eastern leading 61-55 before the Eagles queued a 9-0 run over a 4:50 second stretch to take a 68-55 lead with 6:18 left in the game.
Wilkes cut the score to 71-66 with an 11-3 run with 2:58 remaining, but Eastern finished the game on an 8-3 run to conclude the contest.
Robinson added five rebounds to his game-high scoring output. Bowen had 12 points, six rebounds, and three assists while Mullins contributed 12 points.
Austin Duncan led Eastern with 16 points and three assists. William Blet added 14 points and ten rebounds before fouling out, while Michael Bowlers contributed 13 points, six rebounds, and three assists and Brennan Kastens had 10 points in 20 minutes off the bench with four rebounds and three assists.
The Colonels return to the court on Wednesday when they host Manhattanville College for an 8:00 p.m. MAC Freedom contest.
