Men’s Hoops Downed by League-Leading New England College

QUINCY, Mass.- The Eastern Nazarene College men's basketball team absorbed an 83-65 loss to New England College Tuesday evening at the Lahue Physical Education Center.

The Lions dip to 5-8 on the season and 2-2 in the New England Collegiate Conference with the result. The Pilgrims improve to 10-2 overall and remain atop the league standings with a 4-0 mark.

Levi Grady-White (Springfield, Mass.) poured in a team-high 14 points and collected seven rebounds. Josh Rice (Hanson, Mass.) posted 13 points and six boards on the night. Ricky Shearman (Acworth, Ga.) chipped in with eight points and five assists while Noah Cheney (Bend, Ore.) tallied eight points.

The visitors raced out to a 9-3 edge with 15:41 left to play in the first half.

The home side clawed back with seven unanswered points to snag a one-point lead, 10-9, with 14:32 remaining in the opening period.

New England College reclaimed a six-point advantage with 3:57 to go in the first frame on a layup by Izaiah Winston-Brooks, 32-26.

Eastern Nazarene knotted the contest at 35-35 in the final minute of the half as Cheney converted a pair of free throws.

The Pilgrims tallied a three-pointer and layup by Jamal Allen in the last 30 seconds of the opening frame to carry a 40-35 lead into the halftime intermission.

Eastern Nazarene shot 40.7% from the floor in the first half to go with 4-for-11 shooting from three-point distance. New England College posted a field-goal percentage of 42.4% despite a 2-for-10 effort from behind the arc.

The guests widened the gap to 20 points after a 17-0 run, 64-44.

The Pilgrims' largest lead of the game came with 3:28 remaining in regulation as Stephen Fama tossed in a fast-break layup, 81-58.

New England College maintained its double-digit margin throughout the remainder of the second stanza to earn its third win in a row.

The Lions shot 40.4% from the floor and 28% from beyond the arc on the night. The Pilgrims concluded the contest with a field-goal percentage of 44.6% while connecting on 6-of-21 from long range.

Allen poured in a game-high 28 points for the visitors while Winston-Brooks scored 16 and Jason Jones added 14.

Looking ahead, Eastern Nazarene visits Lesley January 10.