Men’s Hoops Falls to Nationally-Ranked MIT Saturday

QUINCY, Mass.- The Eastern Nazarene College men's basketball team dropped an 86-55 decision to Massachusetts Institute of Technology Saturday afternoon at the Lahue Physical Education Center.

The Lions slide to 0-3 on the year with the result while the Engineers, ranked No. 5 in the D3Hoops.com National Poll, improve to 1-1 overall.

David Lopez (Miami, Fla.) scored a team-high 13 points and grabbed seven rebounds. Jacob Waldroop (Newland, N.C.) finished with eight points, five assists, and four boards off the bench. Josh Rice (Hanson, Mass.) poured in seven points while Garrett Crandell (Bristol, Tenn.) and Levi Grady-White (Springfield, Mass.) each netted six.

The visitors tallied the first six points of the contest to grab a 6-0 edge 2:26 into the game.

The home side strung together a 6-0 run to level the score at 13-13 with 10:46 left to play in the first half.

MIT responded with a 23-0 run spanning 6:42 to construct a 36-13 lead with less than four minutes remaining in the opening frame.

Eastern Nazarene cut the deficit to 41-20 just before intermission as Crandell tossed in a layup.

The Lions shot 36.4% from the floor and 25% from three-point range in the opening half. The Engineers posted a field-goal percentage of 47.1% at the break and connected on 5-of-16 from behind the arc.

MIT extended its advantage to 33 points with 12:54 to go in regulation, 59-26, as Cameron Korb drilled one of his nine three-pointers in the game.

The guests maintained their double-digit margin throughout the remainder of the second stanza to pick up their first victory of the season.

The Lions finished with a field-goal percentage of 45% on the afternoon and drained 3-of-10 from beyond the arc. The Engineers shot 46.2% from the field and racked up 17 three-pointers made on 40 attempts.       

Korb paced MIT with a game-high 29 points while AJ Jurko chipped in with 16 points and six steals. Ian Hinkley added 14 points and Bradley Jomard recorded 13 points, 10 rebounds, and eight assists

Up next, Eastern Nazarene continues its season-long stretch of four-consecutive home games with a non-conference tussle with UMass-Boston November 20.