Men’s Hoops Overpowers Western New England 83-47, Jaylen Owens Reaches 1,000 Career Points

SPRINGFIELD, Mass.- Junior Jaylen Owens (Johns Creek, Ga.) became the 30th player in program history to rack up 1,000 career points as the Eastern Nazarene College men's basketball team coasted to an 83-47 win at Western New England University Saturday afternoon.

The victory elevates the Lions to 11-1 on the season and 4-1 in the Commonwealth Coast Conference. The Golden Bears slide to 3-9 overall and 1-4 in league games with the loss.

Owens finished with 13 points, six rebounds and three assists to lead the visitors. With his final basket of the afternoon, the junior guard became the latest member of the 1,000 career point club in Eastern Nazarene College men's basketball history since Chima Ezeigbo '13 attained the millennium mark during the 2012-13 season.

Corey Doran (Fairfield, Calif.) and Justin Wagner (Oklahoma City, Okla.) each poured in 12 points in the game. Eric Lynch (Alpharetta, Ga.) netted eight points while Christian Lynch (Alpharetta, Ga.) and Carlos Hamlett (Roswell, Ga.) each scored seven points off the bench. Jeremy Wagner (Oklahoma City, Okla.) dished out a team-high six assists on the day to match his career-best.

After the home team jumped out to 5-4 edge early in the contest, the visitors responded with a trey by Justin Wagner to claim a 7-5 lead 2:09 after tip-off.

The Lions strung together 11 unanswered points to open up a 21-11 advantage midway through the first period, capped off by a three-pointer by Christian Lynch.

Eastern Nazarene widened the margin to 20 points with 1:22 on the clock as Owens setup Eric Lynch for a layup, 42-22.

Justin Wagner drilled a trey in the final minute of the opening frame to send the visitors into the halftime intermission possessing a lofty 45-24 lead.

The Lions were paced by Justin Wagner with nine points at halftime after knocking down three triples in the first half. Doran and Owens collected seven points each through 20 minutes of play while Eric Lynch and Alex Jarman (Portsmouth, R.I.) chipped in with six points apiece.

Eastern Nazarene connected on 51.6% of its field-goal attempts in the opening half and 54.5% of its shots from beyond the arc. Western New England was held to 29% shooting from the field in the first frame while draining just 2-of-9 from long distance.

Owens tallied his 1,000th career point six minutes into the second half to increase the Lions' advantage to 58-28.

Eastern Nazarene upheld its spacious gap for the entirety of the second period, outscoring Western New England 38-23 to pick up its 11th victory of the season.

The Lions finished the game with a field-goal percentage of 51.6% to go with 9-of-17 shooting from three-point range. The Golden Bears were limited to just 28.6% shooting from the floor on the day, including 23.8% shooting from behind the arc.

Up next, Eastern Nazarene will take on Wentworth January 13 in a contest which was rescheduled from January 8.