Men’s Basketball Drops 69-62 Decision at Curry Saturday

MILTON, Mass.- The Eastern Nazarene College men's basketball team suffered a 69-62 setback at Curry Saturday afternoon.

The Lions slip to 4-8 on the season with the result while the Colonels improve to 4-7 overall.

Noah Cheney (Bend, Ore.) poured in a team-high 16 points and grabbed four rebounds. David Lopez (Miami, Fla.) netted 11 points and collected three boards off the bench. Garrett Crandell (Bristol, Tenn.) chipped in with nine points while Jacob Waldroop (Newland, N.C.) finished with eight points and seven rebounds.

The home side started the contest with seven consecutive points to claim an early 7-0 edge.

The visitors clawed back to nab a one-point lead with 8:09 left to play in the first half, 17-16, as Cheney converted a pair of free throws.

Curry responded with five-straight points to seize a 21-17 advantage with 6:41 remaining in the opening period.

Back-to-back-to-back layups by Crandell pushed Eastern Nazarene ahead 23-21 with 4:25 on the clock.

The Colonels knotted the score at 30-30 with 48 seconds left in the first frame on a layup by Jared Thorpe-Johnson.

The Lions reclaimed a two-point edge with nine seconds to go in the half as Josh Rice (Hanson, Mass.) tossed in a put-back layup, 32-30.

The hosts sported a 33-32 lead at the halftime break after Angelo Sardegna's three-point play in the final seconds of the first stanza.

The guests opened the second half with three unanswered treys by Cheney, Crandell, and Waldroop to establish a 41-35 advantage.

Curry pulled even at 56-56 with 6:42 remaining in regulation on a three-pointer by Daymeann Stewart.

The Colonels ended the game with a 13-3 run to secure their first win over the Lions since 2013.

Eastern Nazarene shot 35.8% from the floor and connected on 8-of-36 from beyond the arc on the day. Curry finished with a field-goal percentage of 42.4% to go with 8-for-29 shooting from three-point distance.

Sardegna and Stewart both scored 19 points to lead the Colonels while Thorpe-Johnson registered a double-double with 11 points and 13 boards.

Looking ahead, Eastern Nazarene will begin NECC play January 8 at home against Becker.