ST. DAVIDS, Pa. - Sophomore KJ Holton paced four Stevenson players in double figures with 16 points and 10 rebounds as the Mustangs never trailed in a 76-61 victory over Eastern in MAC Commonwealth men's basketball Thursday night at the EU Gymnasium.

• Stevenson (2-3, 2-3 MAC Commonwealth) took the lead for good on a Bo Wesley dunk 1:26 in that made it 4-2.
• A 9-0 run capped by a basket by Ethan Jones pushed the Mustang lead to 14, 22-8, with 11:36 left in the opening stanza.
• Eastern (0-1, 0-1) whittled the lead to 10, 24-14, with 10:33 on the clock on a pair of Sam Gallardo free throws.
• The Eagles cut the lead to six, 33-27, with just over five minutes to play before the break.
• Stevenson outscored Eastern 11-5 the rest of the period, and an Evan Joseph three with 19 seconds left made it 44-32 at intermission.

• Joseph and Holton made back-to-back threes to open the second half to extend the Mustang lead to 50-32.
• The Eagles chipped away and got the lead back to 12, 52-40, with just under 15 minutes to go.
• The guests countered with a 7-0 run and a steal and layup by Norman Hughes put the Mustangs in front by 19 with 11:37 left.
• Stevenson took a 70-48 lead with 6:27 to go following a basket by McKale Williams.
• Another Joseph triple gave the Mustangs their largest lead, 73-50, with exactly four minutes left.
• Eastern closed the game on an 11-3 run.

• Holton made three of his four three-point attempts and was 5-9 from the floor and 3-4 at the free throw line while grabbing 10 rebounds.
• Joseph was 5-9 overall and 3-5 from three and tallied 13 points and eight rebounds.
• Williams finished with 11 points on 5-9 shooting.
• Jalin Jordan added 10 points and five rebounds off the bench.
• Cameron Sapienza contributed eight points.
• Jones made all three of his field goal attempts and added seven points.
• Stevenson shot 53.1% in the first half and 47.6% overall and connected on nine of its 21 three-point attempts.
• Eastern shot 29.6% overall and 2-21 behind the arc.
• The Mustangs held a 50-39 rebounding advantage 

• Stevenson and Eastern meet again Friday night at Owings Mills Gymnasium in a game slated for a 7 pm tipoff.

Photo courtesy Courtney Schrom, Eastern Athletic Communications