Men’s Basketball Edged by Gordon, 67-60

QUINCY, Mass.- The Eastern Nazarene men's basketball team dropped a 67-60 decision to Gordon Saturday afternoon at the Lahue Physical Education Center.

The Lions fall to 10-4 on the season and 4-4 in the Commonwealth Coast Conference. The Fighting Scots improve to 8-6 overall and 6-2 in conference action.

Jaylen Owens (Johns Creek, Ga.) finished with a game-high 18 points while collecting seven rebounds and three assists. Jeremy Wagner (Oklahoma City, Okla.) poured in 12 points on the afternoon. Brian Hard (Weymouth, Mass.) chipped in with nine points off the bench and Lequan Gomes (Fairfield, Calif.) registered a team-best eight rebounds.

After a back-and-forth opening 12 minutes, the visitors utilized a 9-2 run to gain a seven-point edge late in the first stanza.

Eastern Nazarene trailed Gordon by six points at halftime, 20-14.

Jeremy Wagner paced the hosts with five points at intermission. Owens grabbed six rebounds in the opening 20 minutes of play while Gomes hauled in five.

The Lions were held to 19.2% shooting in the first half while connecting on 1-for-6 from three-point distance. The Fighting Scots shot 33.3% from the field in the opening period and just 1-of-7 from behind the arc.

Eastern Nazarene cut the deficit to three points with 6:52 left to play, 45-42, as Hard sank a three-pointer from the top of the key.

A lay-up by Gomes with 2:34 remaining pulled the home team to within two, 54-52.

Gordon responded with five consecutive points to increase its lead to seven with 1:29 on the clock.

Owens nailed a three-pointer with 18 seconds left to play to narrow the margin to five, 65-60.

The visitors scored six of their final eight points from the free throw line to seal the win.

The Lions shot 32.8% from the floor in the game while draining 10 treys on 27 attempts. The Fighting Scots finished the contest with a field-goal percentage of 48.8% to go with 33.3% shooting from beyond the arc.

Up next, Eastern Nazarene will look to snap a three-game skid as it travels to take on Nichols January 21.