Matthew CavailerOn Saturday, Feb. 22, in the last seconds of the men’s basketball game, Eastern University had a chance to come back and reign victorious over the Cavaliers, but Cabrini’s defense proved too strong and Cabrini defeated the Eastern University Eagles 66-64.
With the win against Eastern, the men’s basketball team has ended the regular season with an overall record of 17-8 overall and 13-4 in the Pennsylvania Athletic Conference.
Throughout the first half, the Cavs kept a comfortable lead and at times were leading by as many as 11 points.
After the halftime presentation of the Eastern’s men’s basketball alumni, the Eagles pounced on every scoring opportunity, improving their total field goals by 17.3 percent.
“Eastern was in a desperate situation,” Cabrini coach John Dzik said. “They played with a lot of emotion and came out with a lot of energy.”
The Cavs, however, after proving to be superior over Eastern in the first half by leading in field goals, three point field goals and free throws, found themselves in a jam when Eastern started to catch up and bring the score to within six points with three minutes and 42 seconds left in the game.
“We played really good defense in the first half,” freshman guard Badir McCleary said. “We got too excited with our lead and lacked concentration in the second half.”
Cabrini’s luck improved when sophomore guard Dan Clemens got fouled five times within a span of two minutes and 37 seconds and went 10 for 10 in foul shots during that span.
“Dan Clemens did a nice job making his free throws,” Dzik said. “Danny played really well.”
With leading scorer Tim Maddox (21 points) out with five fouls and the Eastern fans rallying behind their team, Cabrini concentrated on defense with the remaining six seconds of the game ticking down. The defense held out and Cabrini won their last game of the regular season.
“The team played very well,” Dzik said.
The win has earned the men’s basketball a bye in the first round of the PAC quarterfinals. The Cavaliers will next play on Thursday, Feb. 27 at Cabrini with the time and team to be announced at a later date.
