Men’s Hoops Primed to Host First CCC Playoff Game in 12 Years

QUINCY, Mass.- The Eastern Nazarene men's basketball team returns to the Commonwealth Coast Conference Tournament after a nine-year hiatus as it welcomes Salve Regina to the Lahue Physical Education Center Tuesday evening.

The Lions enter the postseason as the fourth-seeded squad and will host its first playoff game since the 2000-01 campaign.

Eastern Nazarene finished the regular season with a 17-8 overall record and an 11-7 mark in the conference. The Lions ended the season tied for third in the league standings with Wentworth but a tiebreaker bumped them to the #4 seed.

Salve Regina heads into the game with a 13-12 record after posting a 9-9 league mark.

The two teams split the season series with each squad winning at home. The Lions notched a 73-52 victory at the Lahue Physical Education Center January 8. The Seahawks edged Eastern Nazarene 67-63 in Newport January 31.

Senior Chima Ezeigbo (Roanoke, Va.) leads the team and ranks eighth in the Commonwealth Coast Conference with 14.3 points per game. Rookie Jaylen Owens (Johns Creek, Ga.) ranks second on the squad with 10.7 points per game while leading the league with 4.4 assists per contest. Freshman Eric Lynch (Alpharetta, Ga.) is third on the team with 9.8 points per game.

Eastern Nazarene owns the conference's third-best scoring offense with 76.8 points per game.

The Lions' 17 wins this season is the most in program history since the 1996-97 season yielded a 23-5 mark.

In the two games against the Seahawks this season, Eastern Nazarene has shot a combined 44.9% from the field. Ezeigbo has tallied 29 points against Salve Regina and Owens has poured in 28.

The Seahawks reached the CCC Tournament final a year ago as the top-seed and fell to Endicott 90-66.