City of Basketball Love

Jeff Griffith (@Jeff_Griffith21)
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The first half between Eastern and Neumann was nothing but runs. The first eighteen minutes of the second half never saw a run of more than five points.

In the end, it was the Eastern Eagles’ hot shooting, and of course, a 7-0 run in the final two minutes of the game, that earned them a hard-fought, 73-70 victory on the road against the Neumann Knights on Saturday afternoon.

“They finally kind of gritted through, we had some really boneheaded decisions, had some consecutive turnovers,” said Eastern coach Eric McNelly. “They’re a scrappy bunch, very skilled guards, so we knew it would be a dogfight, so we’re just happy to get away with a win after a loss to Del-Val in a similar game.”

After starting the game in a 7-2 hole, the Knights were quick to dig themselves out with a 14-0 run, which ended mid-way through the first half with Neumann on top 16-8. Their first half lead would grow to as large as nine when Kevin Green notched their first three-pointer with 4:57 to go.

In the final minutes of the half, however, Eastern caught fire from beyond the arc, making back-to-back-to-back threes to tie it at 27. The Eagles ended the half with a 6-of-13 three-point mark after making one of their first six. Their lead would be 32-31 at the break, finishing the half on a 14-4 run.

Despite that slow start from long-range, Eastern ended up shooting 9-of-19 from beyond the arc for a clip of 47 percent.

Malcolm Garrison led the shooting charge for the Eagles, dropping 19 points on 5-of-8 three-point shooting.

“Malcolm Garrison is a big leader for us, he shot the ball extremely well, and since we’re all emotional, he hits a couple shots and it gets us all going, and we just all kind of fed off of that,” McNelly said. “The 3-point shooting came from Malcolm Garrison, and it fed off of it.”

On the flip side, the Knights only made five percent of their 3-point attempts, making only one the entire game.

“I think what happens is you start pressing, you’re not tight with your ball reversals and execution, and it’s almost like some of the shots were just taken out of necessity rather than going through the flow of the offense,” said Neumann coach Jim Rullo.

The second frame was far more balanced; Neumann gained a 36-34 lead at the 17:16 mark, but quickly relinquished it 40 seconds later.

Eastern would lead for the next six minutes--never by more than five during that stretch--before the Knights tied it up at 46 on a DeShawn Lowman layup. Lowman led the way with 23 points for Neumann.

The Eagles were not phased, however. They quickly responded by building a six-point lead, going into the final minutes up 56-50. Neumann responded of course, ripping off a 7-0 run to take its first lead, 57-56, with under seven minutes to play.

The lead would change hands nine more times down the stretch, with Neumann leading 63-62 with two minutes to play.

“I think what the players are starting to realize is that if expend a lot of energy when you’re down and you find back to make it a ball game, your job is just starting at that point,” Rullo said. “You have to be mentally tough from that point on in the game.”

That’s when Eastern’s last run of the game kicked in, as the Eagles were able to score the next eight points, to lead 70-63 with 38 seconds left and effectively close out the Knights.

One of the interesting storyline during the game for Neumann was the absence of one of the team’s most talented players, junior forward James Butler.

Butler, who averages about 18 ppg and 9 rpg so far this season, missed the game for personal reasons, but plans to be back with the team as soon as possible, likely after the team’s break for the holidays.

“Obviously when you have a kid that’s scoring 18 points a game and grabbing almost 10 rebounds a game you need that production but I think Muhammad Amin came in and was a good presence and that’s part of basketball,” Rullo said. “The next guy needs to be up and available, and hopefully the reason we practice the way we do is so when guys are put in that position, they succeed.”

Neumann will have to wait a long time before they have a chance to rebound from the tough loss when they take on Rutgers-Camden this on Dec. 30. As for Eastern they’ll be looking for their second straight win when they travel down to Florida to take on Nova Southeastern on Wednesday.