Men’s Basketball Falters at Wentworth, 80-58

BOSTON, Mass.- The Eastern Nazarene College men's basketball team absorbed an 80-58 loss at Wentworth Thursday evening.

The Lions slide to 9-3 overall and 3-2 in the Commonwealth Coast Conference with the setback. The Leopards improve to 6-6 on the season and 4-1 in league action.

Eric Lynch (Alpharetta, Ga.) and Jaylen Owens (Johns Creek, Ga.) each finished with 12 points in the game. Christian Lynch (Alpharetta, Ga.) netted 11 points off the bench and grabbed four boards. David Eddings (Endicott, N.Y.) registered nine points and six rebounds.

The guests claimed a four-point lead less than seven minutes into the contest after Christian Lynch completed a three-point play from the charity stripe, 16-12.

Wentworth battled back to tie the score at 16-16 on a jumper by Kyle Romich with 11:10 to go in the first half.

After the hosts grabbed a six-point advantage, Christian Lynch tossed in a layup and converted a free throw to cut the deficit to 32-29 with 1:19 remaining in the period.

Romich sank a floater in the final seconds of the half to stretch the Leopards' lead to 34-29 at intermission.

Christian Lynch poured in a team-high nine points in the first 20 minutes of play while Eric Lynch added eight points.

Eastern Nazarene connected on 42.3% of its field-goal attempts in the first frame, including 37.5% from long distance. Wentworth shot 40% from the floor and 25% from the three-point line.

The home side held a commanding lead throughout the second half en route to handing Eastern Nazarene its third consecutive loss.

Wentworth's largest margin of the game came with 2:20 left to play in regulation as a trey by Dan Devaux pushed the gap to 79-52.

The Lions shot 38.7% from the floor and 27.8% from beyond the arc on the night. The Leopards finished with a field-goal percentage of 49.2% to go with 9-for-20 shooting from the perimeter.

Jason Ganley paced Wentworth with 22 points while Romich posted a double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds.

Up next, Eastern Nazarene will host Nichols January 9.