Men’s Basketball Drops OT Decision at Endicott in CCC Semifinals, 87-80

BEVERLY, Mass.- The Eastern Nazarene College men's basketball team endured an 87-80 overtime-loss at Endicott Thursday evening in the Commonwealth Coast Conference semifinals.  

The third-seeded Lions wrap up the season with a 22-5 overall record while the second-seeded Gulls improve to 22-5 on the year and advance to the CCC Tournament finals.

Jaylen Owens (Johns Creek, Ga.) scored a team-high 28 points while adding six boards and two assists. Alex Jarman (Portsmouth, R.I.) notched a double-double with 25 rebounds, 14 points and six blocks. Christian Lynch (Alpharetta, Ga.) finished with 14 points and three steals while Eric Lynch (Alpharetta, Ga.) tallied 14 points and grabbed three boards.

After a slow start which saw the two teams combine for 12 missed shots in the opening three minutes, Endicott's John Henault broke the scoreless draw with a layup with 16:45 remaining.

Eastern Nazarene drained the next three buckets to grab a 6-2 edge with 14:09 left to play.

The guests established a six-point margin with 7:13 to go in the half as Eric Lynch banked in a layup, 21-15.

The hosts responded with back-to-back triples to tie the score at 21-21 with 5:49 on the clock.

The Lions held onto a one-point lead at the intermission after the Gulls' Max Motroni sank a three-pointer with 1:19 left to play.

Owens and Eric Lynch paced Eastern Nazarene at halftime with seven points while Jarman netted six points and hauled in 12 rebounds.

The Lions shot 40.7% from the floor and drained 2-of-4 tries from beyond the arc. The Gulls posted a field-goal percentage of 31.4% while shooting 25% from long range.

Eastern Nazarene reclaimed a six-point advantage with 14:47 remaining on a tip-in by Jarman, 39-33.

Endicott leveled the score at 48-48 just past the midway point of the second half on a trey by Daquan Sampson.

The home team built up an eight-point margin as Kamahl Walker knocked down a three-pointer with five minutes left to play.

The visitors clawed back to cut the deficit to one with 1:36 to go as Owens converted a pair of free throws, 62-61.

After each side traded layups, Owens knotted the game at 66-66 with 22 seconds left in regulation as he nailed a trey from the right wing.

Each team missed a go-ahead attempt in the waning seconds of regulation to send the contest to overtime even at 66-66.

The Gulls chalked up the first eight points of the extra period to seize a 74-66 lead with 2:11 on the clock.

The Lions pulled to within four with 21 seconds to go, 84-80, as Owens connected on three free throws after drawing a foul while attempting a long distance shot.

The hosts sank nine attempts from the charity stripe to secure the victory and move onto the CCC finals.

Eastern Nazarene finished with a field-goal percentage of 37.8% on the night while connecting on 28.6% of its three-point attempts. Endicott shot 38.9% from the floor and 33.3% from the perimeter in the game.