Men’s Basketball Upended by Rhode Island College in Season-Opener

QUINCY, Mass.- The Eastern Nazarene College men's basketball team opened the 2019-20 campaign with an 84-65 setback to Rhode Island College Monday evening at the Lahue Physical Education Center.

The Lions slip to 0-1 on the year with the result while the Anchormen improve to 1-0 overall.

Garrett Crandell (Bristol, Tenn.) poured in a team-high 15 points while adding five rebounds on the night. Noah Cheney (Bend, Ore.) netted 11 points off the bench while Andrew Mitchell (Campobello, S.C.) and Ricky Shearman (Acworth, Ga.) tallied eight each. Fred Smith (Dorchester, Mass.) finished with 10 boards and five points and Will Zarges (Quincy, Mass.) collected six rebounds in his collegiate debut.

The two teams traded buckets to start the contest before the visitors grabbed an early five-point edge, 10-5, with 14:52 remaining in the first half on a layup by Shion Darby.

Eastern Nazarene battled back to claim a 23-15 advantage after a 16-0 run spanning three minutes.

Rhode Island College responded with 10 straight points to regain a two-point lead, 25-23, with under eight minutes left to play in the opening frame.

The Anchormen widened the gap to 31-24 with 5:21 to go in the half as Deyshawn Tengbeh sank two free throws.

The Lions headed into the halftime intermission trailing 41-36. The hosts shot 48% from the floor in the first period while the guests posted a field-goal percentage of 35%.

Rhode Island College claimed its first double-digit lead of the game with 13:20 remaining, 56-45, as Darby converted a three-point play with a free throw.

The Anchormen their advantage to 23 points, their largest of the contest, on a layup by Tengbeh with 9:16 left to play.

Keyshaun Jacobs scored a game-high 26 points while Darby notched 20 to lead Rhode Island College. Benjamin Vezele registered a double-double with 15 points and 12 boards.

The Lions finished with a field-goal percentage of 43.6% to go with 4-of-19 shooting from beyond the arc. The Anchormen shot 35.7% from the floor and 23.3% from three-point range on the night.

Up next, Eastern Nazarene travels to UMass-Boston November 14.