Men’s Hoops Opens Home Slate with 90-76 Victory over Suffolk

QUINCY, Mass.- The Eastern Nazarene men's basketball team posted a 90-76 non-conference win over Suffolk Tuesday evening at the Lahue Physical Education Center in the home-opener.

The win lifts the Lions to 2-0 on the season while the Rams drop to 1-2 overall.

Rookie Christian Lynch (Alpharetta, Ga.) netted a game-high 17 points while adding six rebounds and three steals. Eric Lynch (Alpharetta, Ga.) finished with 16 points, eight boards and four assists in the win. Lequan Gomes (Fairfield, Calif.) scored 14 points and pulled down six rebounds.

Alex Jarman (Portsmouth, R.I.) chipped in with 10 points, three boards and a pair of blocks.

The two sides traded buckets in the opening four minutes of action as the Lions held a 7-6 edge after a trey by Christian Lynch.

A fast-break layup by Jeremy Wagner (Oklahoma City, Okla.) pushed Eastern Nazarene's lead to 26-19 with six minutes remaining in the half.

The Rams responded with four straight points to cut the deficit to 26-23 with five minutes left to play in the period.

The Lions' stretched their advantage to 10 points on a three-pointer by Jeremy Wagner with 1:32 on the clock.

Eric Lynch banked in a layup with 17 seconds remaining in the first half to widen the margin to 12, 43-31. Suffolk tallied two points as time expired in the opening period as Matt Powers drained a lay-in to pull the score to 43-33 at halftime.

Gomes and Eric Lynch each scored 10 points in the first 20 minutes of play. Christian Lynch and Jeremy Wagner both registered seven points in the first frame for the hosts.

Collectivley, Eastern Nazarene drained 47.5% of its field-goal attempts in the opening period, including 3-for-11 from long distance.

Suffolk shot 46.9% from the floor in the first stanza despite being limited to 0-for-4 shooting from beyond the arc.

 The Lions maintained a double-digit advantage throughout the second half to cruise to their second win of the year.

Eastern Nazarene's largest lead came with 8:35 left in regulation as Christian Lynch knocked down a pair of free throws to extend the gap to 78-52.

The Rams rallied late to slice the hosts' advantage to 14 in the final minute of play. Suffolk closed out the game on a 10-2 run.

Suffolk was led by Powers with 15 points off the bench while Sean Nally contributed 11 points on 3-of-3 shooting from three-point range.

Eastern Nazarene finished the game with a field-goal percentage of 47.5% after shooting 47.5% from the field in the second half. The Lions connected on 26.3% of their three-point attempts on the night.

Suffolk shot 48.4% from the field in the loss and 26.3% from long range.

Eastern Nazarene outrebounded the visitors by margin of 45.37. The Lions hauled in 21 offensive boards while the Rams corralled 14.

Up next, Eastern Nazarene will host the ENC Holiday Classic Tournament November 22 and 23. The Lions will play Johnson State before The King's College faces off against New England College November 22.