SALISBURY, Md. – The Salisbury University men's basketball team prevailed on teddy bear toss night inside Maggs Gymnasium, defeating the Eastern University Eagles 71-63 in a Wednesday night clash.

Both teams jostled for the upper hand throughout the contest. The Sea Gulls (3-5) got on the board first from a Jamison Graves layup, then the Eagles (2-5) rattled off nine of the next 11 points before Calvin Thomas put home two straight buckets to make it 9-8 heading into the first media timeout.

A Jaylen Shippen putback and-one put the hosts back in front later on in the first half, 16-13. Shippen laced a triple moments after, assisted by Elijah Bryan, followed by a Daniel Oyediran driving layup to elevate the Sea Gulls' lead to six. Eastern responded with a 9-1 run that Calvin Thomas halted to knot the score at 24. In the final seconds with the Sea Gulls ahead 30-29, Graves buried a corner pocket three to send the Maroon and Gold into halftime ahead by four.

After going down 39-36 with just under 16 minutes to play, Churchill Bounds and Tyler Ball hit from inside the arc to get the Gulls off the mat. Leon Elung and Oyediran delivered from the paint to get Salisbury up by five.

The momentum swung back in the Eagles' favor afterwards, with the visitors scoring nine points unanswered. Aidan Camper netted a three, and Thomas made eight of the Sea Gulls' next 12 points to put Salisbury back in the driver's seat 60-54. A Graves mid-range jumper and free throws from Camper, Oyediran, Graves and Ball iced the game for the Sea Gulls.

GAME NOTES

• Thomas led the Sea Gulls in points (18) and shot 6-9 from the field and at the free throw line on the way to a career high in scoring.
• Graves contributed 12 points, shooting 4-7 from the field.
• Elung tallied ten points, six rebounds and one block.
• Ball, Graves, Oyediran and Shippen had two steals each
• Salisbury shot 43.1 percent (25-58) from the field, 21.4 percent (3-14) from distance and 64.3 percent (18-28) from the charity stripe.
• The Sea Gulls held the Eagles to 36.1 percent (22-61) shooting and 9.1 percent (2-22) shooting from beyond the arc.

The Sea Gulls host the Gettysburg College Bullets on Saturday afternoon inside Maggs Gymnasium for Fight for Ferguson and Alumni Day. Tip-off is set for 3:00 p.m. Salisbury University is a proud member of NCAA Division III with primary membership in the Coast-to-Coast Athletic Conference, along with affiliate membership in the New Jersey Athletic Conference (football, men's & women's swimming), Coastal Lacrosse Conference (men's lacrosse), State University of New York Athletic Conference (field hockey), and Colonial Women's Golf Conference (women's golf). With over 500 student-athletes in 23 varsity sports, SU is recognized as one of the nation's most competitive intercollegiate athletics programs regardless of division, featuring dedicated coaches and staff that foster excellence on and off the field. The Sea Gulls have won a combined 23 team national championships, 24 individual national championships, and 206 conference championships, and have produced 53 Academic All-Americans.

To Make Tomorrow Yours at Salisbury University, and learn more about Sea Gull Athletics' tradition of excellence, visit SUSeaGulls.com or follow on social media @SUSeaGulls.