Men’s Basketball Drops Exhibition at NJIT, 76-43

NEWARK, N.J.- The Eastern Nazarene men's basketball team suffered a 76-43 loss to Division I opponent New Jersey Institute of Technology Tuesday evening in an exhibition contest at the Fleisher Center.

The Highlanders improve to 1-1 on the season after narrowly falling to Providence November 10.

Senior Chima Ezeigbo (Roanoke, Va.) led the Lions with 16 points and eight rebounds in the game. Ezeigbo went 8-for-16 from the field while also adding three blocks.

Senior Mike McCoy (Altamonte Springs , Fla.), junior Brian Hard (Weymouth, Mass.) and rookie Eric Lynch (Alpharetta, Ga.) all scored six points for the visitors on the night. McCoy and Hard each drained a pair of treys for Eastern Nazarene.

Freshmen Alex Jarman (Portsmouth, R.I.), Jeremy Wagner (Oklahoma City, Okla.) and Justin Wagner (Oklahoma City, Okla.) all pulled down four boards for the Lions.

The hosts netted the first seven points of the game before McCoy nailed a three-pointer with 14:05 remaining in the first half.

A three-pointer from Hard with 10:27 pulled Eastern Nazarene to within a point of the Highlanders, 13-12. The Lions grabbed their first lead of the game as Ezeigbo sank a lay-up after corralling three-consecutive offensive rebounds, 14-13.

NJIT reclaimed a one-point advantage, 21-20, with 5:17 left to play in the opening frame as Terrence Smith connected on a lay-up.

The Lions scored on the ensuing possession to jump ahead 22-21 with just over five minutes remaining in the half.

The Highlanders went on an 8-0 run to expand their lead to 29-22 with 1:17 showing on the clock.

The home team held onto a 29-24 edge at the midway point of the game.

Eastern Nazarene tallied five points in the opening minute of the second stanza to knot the contest at 29-29.

NJIT stretched the gap to 14 points with 11:22 left to play in the game as PJ Miller laid in two of his 14 points on the night.

The Lions finished with a field-goal percentage of 29.7% while shooting just 19% from beyond the arc. The Highlanders connected on 50% of their field-goal attempts in the win. The hosts outrebounded Eastern Nazarene by a slight 42-40 margin.

NJIT was led by Chris Flores, the 2012-13 Great West Conference Preseason Player of the Year, with 20 points and six steals while Miller chipped in with 14 points and a team-high seven assists.

The Lions first regular-season contest is slated for November 15 against Fitchburg State at 7 pm as part of the New England College Tip-Off Tournament.