ST. DAVID'S, Pa. – Putting four players in double figures, Stevenson gave MAC Commonwealth favorite Eastern it could handle Wednesday night before the Eagles (8-4, 1-0 MACC) defeated the Mustangs (6-6, 0-1 MACC) 72-70 in men's basketball action.
Stevenson was led by 15 points from
Joey Lutz on 6-for-11 shooting including three three-pointers, while
Mason Jones continued his hot play with 15 points and eight rebounds.
Ronald Ayers had 14 points with
Cameron Smith getting 11 points and team-high 14 rebounds. He also had three steals on the night.
The Mustangs rallied from down seven with under four minutes to go (68-61, 3:57) in the second half going on an 8-0 run to take the lead at 69-68 as Ayers hit a three-pointer with 1:43 left. After Eastern recaptured the lead, Stevenson had a chance to tie with two seconds left after Ayers made a foul shot and missed the second. A
Cameron Sapienza shot at the buzzer was blocked.
Stevenson came out of the gate hot, taking its biggest lead at 6-0 as
Kole Beaman hit a jumper 1:34 into the game. Eastern would respond with a 9-0 scoring run of its own, maintaining the lead until Ayers hit a layup with 4:23 left for a 31-30 Stevenson advantage.
Stevenson will host Widener on Saturday for another MAC Commonwealth game at 3 p.m.
