Men’s Basketball Bests Curry in Midweek Clash, 70-58

MILTON, Mass.- The Eastern Nazarene College men's basketball team collected its seventh-straight win Wednesday evening, downing Curry 70-58 to open league play.

The Lions, who are receiving votes in the D3Hoops.com National Poll, improve to 7-0 on the season and 1-0 in the Commonwealth Coast Conference with the victory. The Colonels slide to 0-7 overall and 0-1 in conference action.

Jaylen Owens (Johns Creek, Ga.) led the guests with 23 points and three steals in the game. Justin Wagner (Oklahoma City, Okla.) finished with 16 points on 5-of-11 shooting from three-point range. Lequan Gomes (Fairfield, Calif.) netted 13 points and grabbed six boards off the bench while Christian Lynch (Alpharetta, Ga.) chipped in with 11 points. David Eddings (Endicott, N.Y.) gathered a team-high 10 rebounds on the night and added seven points.

Curry opened the game on a 5-0 run before Justin Wagner buried three triples to give Eastern Nazarene a 9-5 lead 4:40 into the contest.

The Lions produced a nine-point advantage with 11 minutes remaining in the half as Christian Lynch knocked down a jumper, 19-10.

Curry cut the deficit to 32-31 with 52 seconds to go in the period on a layup by James Pina.

Eastern Nazarene boasted a three-point edge at halftime, 34-31, after Owens banked in a layup with 18 seconds remaining.

The hosts leveled the score at 34-34 with a three-pointer on their first possession of the second half by Paul Preziosi.

The guests strung together nine unanswered points to build up a 45-36 with 14 minutes left to play.

Eastern Nazarene controlled the lead throughout the remainder of the game and sealed its seventh-consecutive win by scoring its final seven points from the charity stripe over the final four minutes while limiting Curry to just two points in that span.

The Lions shot 42.6% from the floor and 33.3% from beyond the arc in the victory. The Colonels finished with a field-goal percentage of 39.6% to go with 5-of-19 shooting from the perimeter.

Up next, Eastern Nazarene hits the road for a crucial matchup at Endicott December 5.