ST. DAVIDS, PA - The College at Florham Devils got down 36-20 at halftime and rallied to cut the deficit to six, 57-51, late in the second half but Eastern hung on for a 62-53 victory in Freedom Conference action on Tuesday evening.

With the loss, the Devils dropped to 5-19 (3-10 Freedom) while the Eagles improved to 12-11 (5-8 Freedom).

The Eagles jumped out to a 12-3 lead with five minutes gone by in the first half and held a 21-7 advantage with 10:56 to go.  The Devils cut it to 23-15 with 8:23 remaining but Eastern closed the half on a 13-5 run to take a 36-20 advantage into the locker room.

After Eastern's lead got to 20 points, 40-20, in the early stages of the second half, the two teams played back-and-forth with the Eagles holding a 45-28 edge with 13:07 to play.  That's when FDU really settled down, reeling off a 23-12 run to cut it to 57-51 with 0:36 to go thanks to six points apiece from junior guard Adam Katz and sophomore forward Derek Hall.  Eastern regained their composure though and went five-for-six from the foul line down the stretch to seal the win.

Senior center Ricky Fetske paced FDU with 10 points and 10 rebounds while Katz and Hall each tallied 11 points.

The Devils return to action on Saturday, February 19, 2011, at home for Senior Day against DeSales beginning at 3 pm.