Men’s Hoops Suffers 70-62 Setback to Gordon Wednesday

QUINCY, Mass.- The Eastern Nazarene College men's basketball team endured a 70-62 loss to Gordon Wednesday evening at the Lahue Physical Education Center.

The Lions slide to 9-9 on the season and 6-5 in the Commonwealth Coast Conference with the outcome. The Fighting Scots improve to 11-7 overall and 8-3 in league action with the win.

Christian Lynch (Alpharetta, Ga.) registered a game-high 17 points while adding seven rebounds, five assists, and two steals. Corey Doran (Fairfield, Calif.) netted 16 points and grabbed five boards. David Eddings (Endicott, N.Y.) finished with 10 points, six rebounds, three assists, and two blocks. Josh Rice (Hanson, Mass.) and Andrew Mitchell (Campobello, S.C.) both chipped in with seven points while Anthony Petrilli (Santa Clarita, Calif.) dished out eight assists.

After the visitors opened up an 8-2 lead, the home side strung together a 6-1 run to cut the deficit to 9-8 with 16:09 remaining in the first frame.

Gordon widened its advantage to 11 points with 12:51 left to play in the opening stanza on a layup by Graham Tienhaara, 21-10.

Eastern Nazarene leveled the score at 25-25 with 1:49 on the clock as Noah Cheney (Bend, Ore.) sank the second of two free throw attempts.

After the Fighting Scots seized a 28-25 edge on a trey by Noah Szilagyi, the Lions responded with a bucket by Mitchell just before the buzzer to cut the halftime-deficit to 28-27.

Eastern Nazarene shot 41.9% from the field while Gordon boasted a field-goal percentage of 36.7% from the floor in the opening half.

The hosts captured their first lead of the night 1:35 into the second half on a fast-break layup by Doran, 31-30.

The guests regained a six-point advantage with 15:07 to go on a three-pointer by Jake Haar, 42-36.

The Fighting Scots pushed their lead to double-digits, 58-47, with 5:59 left to play in regulation as Luke Meyer knocked down a jumper.

The Lions trimmed the margin to five as Rice splashed a three-pointer from the right corner with 30 seconds to go, 67-62.

Gordon secured the victory with three free throws down the stretch.

The Lions finished with a field-goal percentage of 44.4% while connecting on 3-of-12 from beyond the arc. The Fighting Scots shot 44.8% from the floor and 53.3% from the perimeter.

Szilagyi paced Gordon with 12 points off the bench while Sam Johnson, Garrison Duvivier, and Haar all tallied 11 points.

Up next, Eastern Nazarene returns to the hardwood January 28 as it visits Roger Williams.