Men’s Basketball Drops Thriller to Salve Regina, 73-69

QUINCY, Mass.- The Eastern Nazarene College men's basketball team fell to Salve Regina 73-69 Wednesday evening at the Lahue Physical Education Center.

The Lions slide to 6-12 on the season and 2-9 in the Commonwealth Coast Conference with the setback. The Seahawks improve to 7-11 overall and 4-7 in league competition with the victory.

Josh Rice (Hanson, Mass) scored a team-high 17 points and grabbed four boards. David Lopez (Miami, Fla.) notched 11 points, five rebounds, and a pair of blocks. Jacob Waldroop (Newland, N.C.) chipped in with 10 points, six boards, and five assists while Noah Cheney (Bend, Ore.) also tallied 10 points.

The home team produced a double-figure lead with 11:48 left to play in the first half, 19-9, as Brenndan Rogers (Hanson, Mass.) knocked down a baseline-jumper.

The visitors cut the deficit to four points with 40 seconds remaining in the opening frame as Rodney Morton banked in a layup, 32-28.

Eastern Nazarene clung to a 34-30 edge at the halftime break after shooting 56.5% from the field and draining 4-of-6 three-point attempts in the first half. Salve Regina shot 34.5% from the floor in the opening 20 minutes and was limited to just one three-pointer on 10 attempts.

The Seahawks jumped ahead 38-37 with 17:51 on the clock to capture their second lead of the game with their first lead coming just 17 seconds into the contest after recording the opening bucket.

The two teams traded ownership of the lead until Salve Regina strung together a 7-0 run to seize a 52-46 advantage with 11:22 remaining in regulation.

Eastern Nazarene clawed back to level the score at 54-54 as Rice canned a three-pointer before Trey'von Davis (Moore, S.C.) tossed in a layup to give the home side a 56-54 lead with 7:40 left to play.

After the visitors snagged a one-point lead with 4:02 to go, the Lions responded with a three-pointer by Lopez to grab the lead with 3:45 on the clock, 64-62.

Layups by Kevin Kelly and Morton pushed the Seahawks ahead 66-64 with 2:08 remaining in regulation.

Eastern Nazarene pulled to within one with 48 seconds left to play as Waldroop drilled a jumper, 68-67.

Salve Regina stretched its lead to four, 71-67, on its next trip down the court as Kelly nailed a trey from the right wing.

After a layup by Waldroop, the Seahawks secured the victory with a pair of free throws by Andrew Bronstein with 12 seconds left.

The Lions shot 53.1% from the floor on the night to go with 60% shooting from behind the arc. The Seahawks concluded the contest with a field-goal percentage of 44.8% while connecting on just 3-of-14 from three-point range.

Looking ahead, Eastern Nazarene welcomes Wentworth to the Lahue Physical Education Center January 27.