Lynch Collects 1,000th Career Point as Men’s Hoops Caps Off Regular Season with 89-75 Win at Curry

MILTON, Mass.- Senior Christian Lynch (Alpharetta, Ga.) became the 32nd player in program history to reach 1,000 career points as the Eastern Nazarene College men's basketball team posted an 89-75 victory at Curry in the regular-season finale Saturday afternoon.

The Lions improve to 12-13 on the season and finish the regular season with a 9-9 league mark to grab the No. 6 seed in the Commonwealth Coast Conference Tournament. The Colonels stumble to 1-24 overall and 0-18 in the conference with the result.

Lynch joins his older brother Eric Lynch '16 on the Eastern Nazarene College men's basketball program's 1,000-point scorers' list. Christian and Eric become the first siblings in school history to each amass 1,000 career points.

Lynch finished with a team-high 26 points on the day while also recording four rebounds and four assists. Corey Doran (Fairfield, Calif.) poured in 26 points and hauled in five boards. David Eddings (Endicott, N.Y.) added 10 points and six rebounds. Anthony Petrilli (Santa Clarita, Calif.) chipped in with seven points and seven assists.

Eastern Nazarene chalked up the first 12 points of the game to claim a 12-0 advantage with 14:56 remaining in the opening half.

Curry battled back to level the contest at 20-20 on a pair of free throws by Kieran Carroll with 8:24 left to play in the first frame.

The Lions responded with a 6-0 run to take a 26-20 lead with 6:37 to go in the first stanza.

The Colonels trimmed the deficit to 28-27 with four minutes remaining in the half on a three-pointer by Jared Johnson.

Lynch tallied his 1,000th career point with a baseline-drive layup with 1:27 remaining in the opening frame. He converted an ensuing free throw to push the guests' advantage to 38-27.

Eastern Nazarene controlled a 40-28 lead at the half after shooting 53.3% from the floor in the first period. Curry owned a field-goal percentage of 31.8% at the midway point of the contest.

After the Colonels cut the margin to nine, the Lions widened the gap to 65-41 with 13:31 left to play in the second half as Doran powered in a layup.

The hosts pulled to within 16 on a layup by Jaelen George-Bellitti with 10:04 to go in regulation, 65-49.

The visitors restored their lead to 22 with 8:07 remaining, 73-51, as Doran threw down a one-handed jam.

Eastern Nazarene held onto a double-digit lead throughout the final minutes to wrap up the regular season with a victory.

The Lions concluded the game with a field-goal percentage of 55.0% to go with 3-for-12 shooting from the perimeter. The Colonels shot 47.8% from the floor and 40.9% from long distance on the day.

Curry was paced by Johnson with 21 points while Carroll contributed with 15 points.

Looking ahead, Eastern Nazarene will battle third-seeded Roger Williams in a Commonwealth Coast Conference quarterfinal matchup February 21 in Bristol, Rhode Island.