Strong Start Carries Men’s Hoops to 87-59 Win Over Framingham State Saturday

BOSTON, Mass.- After a 22-point outburst to begin the game, the Eastern Nazarene College men's basketball team cruised past Framingham State Saturday afternoon 87-59 in the consolation game of the UMass-Boston Paula Titus Memorial Tournament.

The Lions climb to 2-4 on the year with the win while the Rams drop to 0-7 overall.

David Lopez (Miami, Fla.) led Eastern Nazarene's balanced offense with 16 points, nine rebounds, four assists, and three steals. Jacob Waldroop (Newland, N.C.) finished with 13 points, four assists, and three boards. Garrett Crandell (Bristol, Tenn.) registered 12 points, six rebounds, and six assists. Noah Cheney (Bend, Ore.) tallied 12 points and grabbed five boards. Christian Garcia (Miami, Fla.) poured in a career-high 12 points while Josh Rice (Hanson, Mass.) added 10 points and five rebounds.

A stellar start saw Eastern Nazarene open up the contest with a 22-0 run as the Lions connected on 9-of-12 field-goal attempts while blanking Framingham State for 7:40.

The Lions widened the margin to 30 points with 4:26 to go in the first half, 39-9, as Crandell drained a three-pointer.

Eastern Nazarene controlled a commanding 44-16 lead at the half while shooting 54.8% from the floor and 56.3% from long range. The Rams managed a field-goal percentage of 25% in the opening stanza.

Both squads chalked up 43 points in the second half as the Lions rolled to their second victory of the season.

Eastern Nazarene finished with a field-goal percentage of 52.5% to go with a 13-for-28 showing from beyond the arc. Framingham State shot 38.2% from the floor and 28.6% from downtown on the day.

Jared Gordon-Anderson paced the Rams with 18 points and seven rebounds off the bench and Cameren McCloud-Thomas chipped in with nine points.

Up next, Eastern Nazarene will travel to the Tar Heel State to take on NCAA Division II Lees-McRae November 27.