ST. DAVIDS, Pa. – Eastern University used some hot shooting from the field and a game-changing 16-0 run midway through the second half to defeat the Manhattanville College men's basketball team by an 87-75 score in a Freedom Conference matchup on Wednesday night at Eastern Gymnasium.
 
The Valiants were done in by a hot-shooting Eastern (7-9, 3-2 Freedom) squad, which connected on 33 of 57 attempts (57.9 percent) from the field and an even 40 percent (10 of 25) from beyond the arc. Tarek Hamzeh led five Eagles in double figures with 18 points, followed by Shaquan Turk with the game's only double-double of 17 points and 10 rebounds.
 
Manhattanville (5-11, 1-4 Freedom) had four players of its own reach double figures, led by junior Juan Camacho (Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic/New Horizons) with a game-high 19 points and classmate Anthony Maestre (Bronx, N.Y./Mount St. Michael Academy) with 17. Fellow junior Andrew Winter (Queens, N.Y./St. Francis Prep) matched his career high with 14 points on 7-of-9 shooting, and freshman Dom Arena (Bronx, N.Y./Cardinal Spellman) also chipped in a season-best 14 points, three assists and two steals.
 
Eastern's Anthony Concepcion started the game off with a three-pointer on the first possession and the home team never trailed in the first half of play, jumping out to an early 20-8 lead eight and a half minutes into the contest. The EU lead grew to as many as 16 points with 2:57 left in the half, but a three from Arena and a Maestre bucket got Manhattanville back within 11 (42-31) at the break.
 
Eastern shot 17 of 28 from the field in the first half to spur its good start, including a 6-of-13 mark from beyond the arc. Manhattanville connected on 15 of 34 shots in the opening 20 minutes, including a scoreless first half from Camacho.
 
Camacho and the Valiants came alive at the start of the second half, however, getting back into the game with a 9-2 run out of the locker room. The streak was helped by a three-pointer and layup from Camacho and a putback bucket from Winter that made it a 44-40 game 3:15 into the half. Manhattanville grabbed the lead for the first time at 54-53 following a three-point play from Camacho and a three from Arena with 12:01 left, capping a 23-11 run to start the second stanza.
 
But the offensive attack could not be sustained by the visitors, as Eastern responded with 16 straight points to take a 69-54 lead with 6:55 left. Winter finally ended the run with a layup at the 6:43 mark, but not before the Eagles hit six out of eight shots during the run to take control of the game.
 
The Valiants went on a 13-3 run, capped by a three-pointer from Maestre, to get within eight points at 83-75 with 57 seconds left, but Eastern went 4-for-4 from the line down the stretch to seal the victory.
 
In addition to Eastern's good shooting, the Eagles also cashed in on 20 Valiant turnovers and turned them into 29 points at the other end, while the Valiants only scored nine points off 19 Eagle miscues.
 
Manhattanville will look to get back on the right track in conference play on Saturday, when the Valiants travel to King's (Pa.) College for a 3 p.m. matchup with the Monarchs.