Men’s Basketball Earns 82-65 Victory at New England College

HENNIKER, N.H.- The Eastern Nazarene College men's basketball team secured an 82-65 win at New England College Saturday afternoon in non-conference action.

The Lions improve to 3-2 on the season while the Pilgrims drop to 3-1 with their first loss of the year.

Corey Doran (Fairfield, Calif.) turned in his second 20-plus point performance in as many games, finishing with 20 points and seven boards. Christian Lynch (Alpharetta, Ga.) and Anthony Petrilli (Santa Clarita, Calif.) both netted 17 points on the afternoon. Patrick Michel (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) poured in 11 points and grabbed seven rebounds off the bench. David Eddings (Endicott, N.Y.) nearly posted a double-double as he collected 12 boards and scored nine points.

"We had a much improved defensive effort in the last 30 minutes of the game after getting down 16. It was a great team win with contributions from a lot of guys," said head coach Scott Polsgrove.

After a back-and-forth start, the home team rattled off five straight points to grab a 9-4 edge less than four minutes into the contest.

New England College stretched its lead to 13 with 12:27 remaining in the first half, 24-11, as Jake Vickery knocked down a three-pointer.

Eastern Nazarene responded with a 12-0 run to tie the score at 27-27 with 7:28 to go in the opening stanza.

The Lions seized a one-point advantage with 3:42 left to play in the half on a bucket by Michel, 33-32.

The visitors carried a four-point lead into the halftime intermission after Noah Cheney (Bend, Ore.) capped off the first frame with a layup in the final minute of play, 41-37.

The Pilgrims cut the deficit to 54-53 with 11:54 remaining in regulation on a put-back layup by Justin Farrick.

Eastern Nazarene claimed a 10-point advantage with 9:09 to go in the game as Michel sank the first of two free throw attempts, 63-53.

The Lions chalked up the final six points of the contest to seal the win.

The guests shot 55.7% from the floor and 44.4% from the perimeter on the day. The hosts finished with a field-goal percentage of 36.1% while connecting on 7-of-26 attempts from behind the arc.

Jason Jones paced New England College with a double-double as he registered 13 rebounds and 12 points.

Up next, Eastern Nazarene travels to Gordon November 30 to kick off conference play.