ST. DAVIDS, Pa. - The Hood College men's basketball team nearly erased a 23-point deficit, pulling within four in the game's closing seconds, but a 24-5 game-opening run by Eastern proved too much to overcome in an 83-77 loss in Middle Atlantic Conference Commonwealth play. 

Inside the Box Score

• Mason Wang scored 21 of his game-high 33 points in the second half. He finished 12-of-21 shooting and went 5-for-11 from 3-point range. The senior made all four of his free throw attempts, led the Blazers with six assists, to go along with six rebounds and two steals. The performance gave him 1,628 career points, five behind Santo Provenzano for second place at Hood and 15 off the school record by Cameron Cook. 
• Evan Wang scored 19 points, hitting 6-for-7 at the free throw line. 
• Christopher Smalls grabbed a career-high 13 rebounds and scored 11 points for his first career double-double. 

How it Happened

• In the clash between the last two undefeated teams in the Middle Atlantic Conference Commonwealth, the host Eagles got off to a fast start with a 24-5 run over the initial 8:17. Terron Bacon scored nine of his 10 points during the run, including a layup that capped the run with 11:43 to go in the half. 
• Hood responded with a 14-5 run, including a pair of 3-pointers by Smalls, and made it 29-19 on a pull-up jumper by Wang with 6:53 to go in the half.
• Davin Hernandez hit three 3-point field goals as Eastern outscored Hood 16-5 over the next four minutes. The Eagles took their biggest lead of the half, 45-24, on a 3-pointer by Jaron Fairweather with 2:59 left before settling for a 48-30 advantage at halftime. 
• In the second half, Kaeshawn Ward connected from 3-point range to give Eastern a 23-point lead, 58-35, with 16:50 remaining. 
• A Mason Wang 3-pointer started a 22-8 run on the Blazers' next possession. He scored 11 points during the near nine-minute stretch that trimmed the deficit to 66-57 on an Evan Wang bucket with 7:55 on the clock. 
• Hood later trailed by 13 after a Joshua Grant layup with 1:35 to play, 78-65. The Blazers scored the next seven points via a pair of free throws by Wang, a 3-pointer by Will Pataki and a layup by Mason Wang to make it 78-72 with 56 seconds left. Hood pulled within 81-77 on a Wang layup with 14 seconds on the clock, but Ward was fouled and made both free throws at the other end to seal Hood's defeat. 

Analysis

• Both teams shot 41 percent in the contest. The Blazers knocked down 52 percent of their second half field goal attempts after making just 9-of-30 in the first half. 
• The two teams took care of the basketball, combining for just 25 turnovers. 
• Hood went 14-of-18 at the free throw line (78 percent), while Eastern was 13-for-23 (57 percent), including 5-of-10 in the final 90 seconds. 

For the Opponent

• Hernandez came off the bench to lead Eastern with 26 points, hitting 7-of-12 behind the 3-point arc. 
• Ward was one assist shy of a triple-double with 18 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists.
• Fairweather also had a double-double with 10 points and 11 boards. 

Notes

• The loss dropped Hood to 4-1 in the MAC Commonwealth. Eastern became the league's last team undefeated in conference play at 5-0. 
• The Blazers are 7-4 overall, while the Eagles moved to 9-2. 

Up Next
Hood looks to get back in the win column on Wednesday, January 12 at York (Pa.).