Men’s Basketball Edged at Roger Williams Thursday, 72-71

BRISTOL, R.I.- The Eastern Nazarene College men's basketball team dropped a narrow 72-71 decision at Roger Williams Thursday evening.

The Lions move to 5-8 on the season and 1-5 in the Commonwealth Coast Conference with the outcome. The Hawks rise to 11-2 overall and 5-1 in league play with the victory.

Jacob Waldroop (Newland, N.C.) netted a season-high 18 points to lead the squad while also adding seven rebounds. Noah Cheney (Bend, Ore.) poured in 16 points and Josh Rice (Hanson, Mass.) notched 13 points. David Lopez (Miami, Fla.) recorded 12 points while Trey'von Davis (Moore, S.C.) hauled in 10 rebounds and scored eight points.

After a closely-contested opening five minutes, the home team grabbed a five-point edge with 13:28 left to play in the first half 11-6.

The visitors pulled even at 11-11 with 12:06 remaining in the first period on a layup by Waldroop.

Roger Williams claimed a double-digit lead as Jake Heaton completed a four-point play with a free throw after sinking a trey and drawing a foul with 8:06 to go in the half, 25-15.

Eastern Nazarene trimmed the deficit to 25-23 with 6:05 on the clock as Rice tossed in a layup.

The Lions leveled the game at 30-30 as Lopez canned a three-pointer with 3:54 left to play in the first frame.

The Hawks narrowly outscored the guests 8-5 in the final 3:28 of the opening half to head into the intermission clinging to a 38-35 edge.

Eastern Nazarene shot 58.3% from the floor in the opening half and splashed 4-of-5 three-point attempts. Roger Williams owned a field-goal percentage of 42.9% despite shooting just 2-for-11 from beyond the arc in the first stanza.

The hosts reestablished a double-figure advantage with 17:34 remaining in regulation, 45-35, on a lay-in by Austin Coene.

The Lions clawed back to within two points with 11:54 left to play in the second half as Cheney knocked down a mid-range jumper, 49-47.

With 6:39 on the clock, Rogers zipped a pass into the paint to Rice under the hoop for a layup to narrow the margin to 58-57.

Eastern Nazarene knotted the score at 64-64 with 3:35 to go in the game on a straight-away three-pointer by Rice.

Roger Williams responded with back-to-back layups to seize a 68-64 lead with 2:46 remaining in regulation.

The Hawks converted 4-of-8 from the charity stripe in the final minute to widen the gap to 72-68 before Lopez drained a last-second trey to make the final score 72-71.

The visitors finished with a field-goal percentage of 50% to go with 5-for-10 shooting from behind the arc. The home side shot 38.7% from the floor and just 15% from long range on the night.

Looking ahead, Eastern Nazarene will host Curry January 13.