ST. DAVID'S, Pa. (February 7, 2018) – The FDU men's basketball team was topped by Eastern 88-77 on Wednesday evening.

The hosts connected on their first three attempts, and grabbed an early 14-9 lead. Freshman Shawn Smith connected from behind the arc to cut the deficit down to two, and a 7-2 run by the Devils made the game 17-16. The Devils ended the run on a nifty dish form Smith to junior Darren Davy.

The Devils evened game with three points the hard way from freshman Ahmad St. Fleur. St. Fleur hit the layup while absorbing contact and hit the free throw to even things at 22 all. FDU took their first lead of the night as Smith hit his fourth bucket from deep in the opening 11:10 of the game.

The rest of the half was a see-saw battle, with no side being able to go up by more than three points. The Devils ball control was stellar in the opening 20, as they only turned the ball over four times, while shooting 16-of-32 from the field.

After Eastern scored four straight to cut the gap to 45-42, junior Eric Ray connected on a three while St. Fleur nailed consecutive layups to push the Devils lead to 52-42. The Eagles clawed back, tying the game midway through the second half thanks to a 14-4 spurt over a 4:06 span.

Davy powered his way to a layup to give the Devils a 62-59 lead, but Eastern knocked down a trey to even things back up at 62 with just under eight minutes left. Freshman Oliver Ortman gave the visitors at 69-68 lead, but the Eagles countered with a 10-0 run, giving them their biggest lead of the night. The Eagles converted their free throws down the stretch, helping keep the Devils at bay.

Smith notched his first career double-double, ending with 23 points and 10 assists to go along with six rebounds and four steals. St. Fleur had 22 points and eight boards while Davy added 17 points.

FDU hosts Delaware Valley Saturday afternoon, with first tip scheduled for 3 p.m.