Men’s Basketball Soars Past Lesley on Senior Day, 86-60

QUINCY, Mass.- The Eastern Nazarene College men's basketball team earned an 86-60 victory over Lesley Saturday afternoon at the Lahue Physical Education Center in the final regular-season home game.

The Lions climb to 13-10 on the season and 8-2 in the New England Collegiate Conference with the win. The Lynx slide to 0-22 overall and 0-10 in league action with the result.

Prior to tip-off, the Eastern Nazarene men's basketball program honored its senior class: Noah Cheney (Bend, Ore.), Garrett Crandell (Bristol, Tenn.), Christian Garcia (Miami, Fla.), Andrew Mitchell (Campobello, S.C.), Josh Rice (Hanson, Mass.), Ricky Shearman (Acworth, Ga.), and Jacob Waldroop (Newland, N.C.).

Noah Cheney (Bend, Ore.) scored a team-high 13 points and added six rebounds. Andrew Mitchell (Campobello, S.C.) notched a career-high 12 points off the bench. Luke Dagley (Weymouth, Mass.) netted 11 points while Garrett Crandell (Bristol, Tenn.) chipped in with 10 points and seven boards.

After the two teams traded buckets to start the contest, the home side strung together a 13-0 run to widen the margin to 28-9 with 8:40 left to play in the opening half.

Eastern Nazarene capped off the first frame with seven-consecutive points to boast a 41-22 advantage at the halftime break.

The Lions posted a field-goal percentage of 38.2% in the first half while connecting on 4-of-15 from beyond the arc. The Lynx were limited to 4-for-18 shooting from the floor in the opening stanza.

Crandell paced the home side with eight points and four rebounds while Rice chipped in with seven points in the first frame.

A 7-0 run pushed Eastern Nazarene's lead to 30 points with 8:31 remaining, 68-38.

The Lions extended their advnatage to 75-41, their largest gap of the game, on a layup by Rice with 6:21 to go.

The hosts shot 44.6% from the floor and 25.9% from three-point territory on the day. The Lynx concluded the contest with a field-goal percentage of 38.6% to go with a 30.8% clip from long range.

Chase Howard paced Lesley with a game-high 20 points while Treyvon Trent recorded 10 points and six rebounds.

Up next, Eastern Nazarene squares off against New England College in a showdown between the league's top two clubs.