Men’s Basketball Edged by Gordon 77-75 in Midweek Clash

QUINCY, Mass.- The Eastern Nazarene College men's basketball team dropped a 77-75 decision to Gordon Wednesday evening at the Lahue Physical Education Center in the 133rd meeting between the two teams.

The Lions slip to 3-6 on the season with the result while the Fighting Scots improve to 9-1 overall.

Garrett Crandell (Bristol, Tenn.) poured in 21 points off the bench to lead all players. Josh Rice (Hanson, Mass.) finished with 15 points and Jacob Waldroop (Newland, N.C.) posted 14 points. David Lopez (Miami, Fla.) tallied 13 points and hauled in six rebounds. Noah Cheney (Bend, Ore.) notched nine points and seven assists while Ricky Shearman (Acworth, Ga.) chipped in with seven assists and five boards.

The home side established an early 10-4 advantage as Lopez knocked down a jumper with 15:38 to go in the first frame.

Eastern Nazarene manufactured an 8-0 run to widen the gap to 28-16 with less than nine minutes remaining in the opening half.

The visitors cut the deficit to 30-26 with 6:33 on the clock as Eric Demers converted a pair of free throws.

The Lions reclaimed a 12-point lead with 41 seconds left to play in the frame on a three-pointer by Luke Dagley (Weymouth, Mass.) from the right corner, 47-35.

Gordon finished the first period with a steal and score by Noah Szilagyi to shrink the hosts' halftime advantage to 47-39.

Eastern Nazarene posted a stellar field-goal percentage of 70.4% in the first half while shooting a sizzling 75% from three-point range. The Fighting Scots shot 51.9% from the floor in the opening frame and connected on 4-of-12 from beyond the arc.

The home team widened the margin to 14 points, 65-51, with 10:34 remaining in regulation on a trey by Crandell.

The guests strung together a 15-0 run spanning 5:47 to capture their first lead of the contest. Gordon vaulted ahead 74-72 with 2:28 left to play on a three-pointer by Demers before David Massillon netted two free throws to cap off the run and push the margin to 76-72 with 18 seconds to go.

The Lions sliced the deficit to 76-75 with three seconds on the clock as Rice drilled a trey.

After Garrison Duvivier nailed a free throw with less than one second remaining in the game, Rice's last-ditch effort came up just short of the rim as Gordon held on for their eighth-straight win.

The Lions shot 53.4% from the floor on the night and 56.5% from behind the arc. The Fighting Scots finished with a field-goal percentage of 50% to go with 7-for-22 shooting from long distance.

Demers paced Gordon with 21 points while Duvivier posted a double-double with 20 points and 11 rebounds.

Looking ahead, Eastern Nazarene heads to Gordon December 31 in the second game of the home-and-home series.