Men’s Basketball Suffers 98-88 Setback at Pine Manor
CHESTNUT HILL, Mass.- Despite a career-best 25 points by Corey Doran (Fairfield, Calif.), the Eastern Nazarene College men's basketball team absorbed a 98-88 loss at Pine Manor in an inter-conference matchup Tuesday evening.
The Lions move to 2-2 on the season with the result while the Gators improve to 3-2 overall.
To go with his 25-point effort, Doran registered eight rebounds and four assists on the night. Christian Lynch (Alpharetta, Ga.) finished with 18 points, six assists and five boards. Anthony Petrilli (Santa Clarita, Calif.) chipped in with 14 points, eight rebounds and five helpers. David Eddings (Endicott, N.Y.) netted 14 points and gathered six boards while Josh Rice (Hanson, Mass.) tallied nine points.
The home team established an early 6-0 lead as Taverick Roberson and Rasheed Bell drilled three-pointers.
The visitors cut the deficit to one with 13:53 remaining in the first half, 11-10, on a layup by Rice.
Pine Manor widened the gap to 20 with 9:04 left to play in the period as Chancie Williams capped a 21-2 run with a three-ball, 32-12.
Eastern Nazarene pulled to within a dozen, 46-34, as Doran netted a layup with 1:56 to go in the opening stanza.
The Lions trailed 55-36 at the halftime intermission after the Gators chalked up four points in the waning seconds of the half.
Eastern Nazarene shot 40.5% from the field in the first half and struggled from three-point distance, missing all eight attempts. Pine Manor sported a field-goal percentage of 54.3% at the break while knocking down 10 treys on 19 attempts.
The guests opened the second half with a 13-4 string to narrow the margin to 10, 59-49. Petrilli notched the Lions' sixth and seventh consecutive points as a converted two shots from the charity stripe four minutes into the half.
The hosts restored their advantage to 21 points on a basket by Erick Rosario with 8:52 on the clock, 83-62.
Eastern Nazarene outscored Pine Manor 26-15 in the final eight minutes as the Gators walked away with their third win of the season to snap a two-game skid.
The Lions finished with a field-goal percentage of 50.7% despite draining 3-of-14 attempts from long range. The Gators shot 52.9% from the floor and 44.4% from beyond the arc on the night.
Roberson led Pine Manor with 30 points while Ellis Reid recorded a double-double with 12 boards and 10 points.
After the Thanksgiving holiday, Eastern Nazarene returns to action November 26 with a road game at New England College.