Cougars add on to win streak by defeating Eastern

In a crucial conference game, the Cougars battled on their way to a 58-52 victory over Eastern. The DiBart Gym felt like the playoffs once again as East faithful stood the entire game as they watched the Cougars win. Much of the critical action happened in the second half of the game.

The first quarter was dominated by Marc Schlessel ('12). He had ten points in the quarter, on his way to 15 in the game. He also had three rebounds and two steals in the quarter. Chris Santo ('11) contributed nine points, while him and Schlessel both shot four of five from the field. Dan Melleby ('11) had three assists in the quarter and Jake Gurkin ('12) had the other two Cougar points as East led 21-17 at the end of the quarter.

East managed to tie the game by halftime via although Santo and Gurkin had four points apiece in the second quarter. Jesse Gold ('12) also had two assists in the quarter.

Santo scored the first nine Cougar points in the third by way of two two-point field goals, a three-pointer and two Free throws. Eastern managed to stay close as they held a 40-38 lead near the end of the quarter. However, Melleby ended the Cougar scoring for the quarter with a three to take a 41-40 Cougar lead.

Eastern scored the first four points of the fourth. Then Schlessel hit a runner to pull East within one. With about 4:30 left, East had a chance to take a one-point lead but Santo missed a layup, something that almost never happens. However, he made up for it by pulling East to within one by hitting two free throws after another Eastern basket. After an Eastern three, Santo hit two more free throws to put the Cougars within two points. Santo's magic was not nearly done for the game as he came right back to tie the game with a jump shot that banked-in off the backboard. Even though they say bank shots don't count, any Cougars fan would take it on this day. Another Santo turnaround jump shot gave the Cougars a two point advantage. However, Eastern refused to go away as they hit a three-pointer for another lead. Then, Schlessel hit the shot of the day, a three-pointer from the corner to give East the two-point, 54-52 lead which it would never relinquish. Eastern went right back down the court and missed their opportunity to tie the game with 30 seconds left. Usually, teams foul right away when they are down with little time left without a shot clock. But Eastern waited and the Cougars got sneaky as they passed the ball inside after avoiding the foul for ten seconds and Gurkin capitalized on the layup to give the Cougars a four-point lead. Santo hit two more foul shots to close out the game for the 58-52 win.

Player of the Game-Santo. His 32 points led the way but what really stood out was his intelligence not to foul out after gaining his fourth foul late in the third quarter. If Santo had fouled out, Eastern likely would have won. Also, Santo did amazingly well from the line, an area in which he has struggled this season as he went eight for eight.

Key Stats

Santo-32 points, 8/8FT, 9/18 two-point FG, 2/2 three-point FG, 7 rebounds

Schlessel-15 points, 7 rebounds, 3/8 three-point FG, 3/5 two-point FG, 3 assists

Gurkin-8 points, 5 rebounds, 3 blocks, 4 assists

Melleby-3 points, 5 assists, 5 rebounds

Gold-5 assists