Eric Shaw scored 21 points and pulled in nine boards to lead the University of Mary Washington men's basketball team to an 88-71 victory over Eastern Mennonite on Tuesday evening in the Ron Rosner Arena, in both teams' season opener. Senior forward John Lutkenhaus added 19 points and nine boards for the Eagles.

In the early going, a Shaw jumper gave the Eagles an 11-3 lead just 2:35 into the game. The Royals cut the lead to four, at 16-12, with 14:14 left in the half, but the Eagles went on a 15-9 run over the next six minutes to push the lead to 31-21. In the run, Shaw had seven points, Austin Hall added a three pointer, Emerson Burk added a free throw, and Brent Mahoney and Lutkenhaus each had a layup.

Later in the first half, freshman Jamal Newton nailed three unanswered jumpers, including two three-pointers, in 1:13 to extend the lead to 48-25 with 3:54 remaining in the first half. The two teams exchanged buckets for the rest of the half before the Royals hit a layup with three seconds left to cut the lead to 55-34.

In the second half, the two teams continued to exchange baskets in the opening minutes until the Royals were able to cut the lead to 13 at 62-49, with 14:27 on the clock. The Eagles locked down defensively and found easy buckets, including four straight lay ups from Shaw and Lutkenhaus to push the lead back to 77-55 with 8:50 left. The Eagles slowed the pace in the remaining minutes and knocked down free throws to secure the victory at 88-71.

Shaw went 9-16 from the floor, making 1-2 three pointers and 2-2 free throws, while Lutkenhaus went 8-14, making 3-6 three pointers en route to 19 points. Mahoney added 13 points and Austin Hall had 10 points and six assists.

The Eagles are back in action on Friday evening at 7:00 p.m. against Washington & Jefferson in the second game of the Hyatt Place Tipoff Tournament.