Men’s Basketball Edges Maine-Presque Isle 69-60

QUINCY, Mass.- The Eastern Nazarene College men's basketball team notched its first victory of the season Saturday afternoon, topping UMaine-Presque Isle 69-60 at the Lahue Physical Education Center.

The Lions improve to 1-4 on the year with the win while the Owls fall to 2-3 overall.

Garrett Crandell (Bristol, Tenn.) tallied 17 points to lead the team while adding five boards. David Lopez (Miami, Fla.) hauled in a game-high 11 rebounds and scored eight points. Levi Grady-White (Springfield, Mass.) and Ricky Shearman (Acworth, Ga.) each chipped in with eight points.

The visitors chalked up eight of the game's first 10 points to claim an early 8-2 edge just 2:21 into the contest.

The hosts clawed back to level the score at 11-11 on a layup by Grady-White with 14:28 to go in the first half.

Eastern Nazarene seized its first lead of the game with 10:23 to go in the opening frame, 19-18, as Grady-White tossed in a fast-break layup.

The Lions stretched their advantage to five on a bucket by Noah Cheney (Bend, Ore.) with 7:49 left to play in the first.

Maine-Presque Isle pulled even at 29-29 on a lay-in by Te'Von Hines with three minutes on the clock.

The guests tallied the final four points of the first half to grab a 33-30 lead at intermission.

Eastern Nazarene shot 36.4% from the floor in the opening frame and connected on 1-of-9 from beyond the arc. Maine-Presque Isle posted a field-goal percentage of 46.4% at the break with a 2-for-10 effort from three-point distance.

Grady-White paced the Lions with eight first-half points, three rebounds and two steals.

The Owls scored the first five points of the second stanza to widen the gap to 38-30 1:20 into the half.

The Lions battled back to capture a one-point lead with 10:15 to go in regulation on a steal and score by Christian Garcia (Miami, Fla.), 50-49.

Eastern Nazarene stretched the margin to 54-50 as Shearman spun in a layup with 6:46 left to play.

Maine-Presque Isle reclaimed the lead with five minutes to go on a trey by DeAndre Duncombe, 57-56.

The home team responded with a 7-0 run to establish a 63-57 edge with 2:37 on the clock.

After the Owls cut the deficit to 63-60 with a three-pointer by Griffin Guerrette, the Lions netted the final six points of the contest as Crandell banked in a layup before Rice and Crandell each converted a pair of attempts from the charity stripe to seal the win.

The Lions concluded the contest with a field-goal percentage of 40.3% to go with 23.1% from three-point land. The Owls shot 41.5% from the floor on the day and 26.1% from deep.

Duncombe scored a game-high 18 points to lead Maine-Presque Isle while Hines added 16 points.

Up next, Eastern Nazarene begins conference play on the road at Mitchell December 1.