Men’s Basketball Knocks Off Newbury, 87-78

QUINCY, Mass.- The Eastern Nazarene College men's basketball team notched an 87-78 victory over Newbury Tuesday evening at the Lahue Physical Education Center.

The Lions improve to 7-8 on the season and 4-2 in the New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) with the win. The Nighthawks fall to 3-9 overall and 1-5 in league action with the setback.

Josh Rice (Hanson, Mass.) poured in 24 points and grabbed eight boards to lead the home team. Levi Grady-White (Springfield, Mass.) posted 13 points and eight rebounds. Jacob Waldroop (Newland, N.C.) racked up seven points, seven assists, six steals, five blocks, and four boards on the night. Noah Cheney (Bend, Ore.) finished with 13 points and seven rebounds. Ricky Shearman (Acworth, Ga.) registered 10 points, seven assists, and six rebounds.

Following an early 5-5 deadlock, the home side rattled off 17 consecutive points to claim a 22-5 lead with 11 minutes remaining in the opening period.

A basket by Grady-White with 6:25 on the clock pushed Eastern Nazarene ahead by 20 points, 32-12.

The Lions grabbed their largest lead of the first half with 2:46 left to play in the frame as Rice drilled his third trey of the night, 45-19.

Shearman splashed a three-pointer at the buzzer to give Eastern Nazarene a 52-27 advantage at the half.

The Lions shot 53.8% from the floor and drained 8-of-15 from behind the arc in the opening frame. The Nighthawks were limited to 33.3% shooting from the field and just 1-for-11 from long distance in the first half.

Rice paced the home side with 19 first-half points to go with eight rebounds and four assists. Grady-White chipped in with eight points at the intermission while Shearman added six points and five assists.

Eastern Nazarene widened the margin to 31 points with 15:25 left to play in the contest on a trey by Waldroop, 62-31.

Newbury cut the deficit to eight with 1:19 remaining in regulation as Tim Deng banked in a layup, 78-70.

The Lions converted 9-of-10 from the charity stripe down the stretch to lock up their second-straight win.

The hosts finished with a field-goal percentage of 42.9% to go with 12-for-24 accuracy from three-point range. The visitors shot 40% from the floor and 25% from beyond the arc on the night.

Deng paced the Nighthawks with a double-double, finished with a game-high 27 points and 11 rebounds. Tank Roberson added 13 points while Pierce Weatherspoon netted 11 points.

Up next, Eastern Nazarene is slated to square off against Dean January 17 at home.