Men’s Basketball Falls to Fisher on Buzzer-Beater, 74-72

QUINCY, Mass.- The Eastern Nazarene College men's basketball team dropped a narrow 74-72 decision to Fisher Saturday afternoon at the Lahue Physical Education Center.

The Lions move to 3-6 on the year with the result while the Falcons improve to 5-4 overall.

Josh Rice (Hanson, Mass.) netted 18 points to lead the home side. Garrett Crandell (Bristol, Tenn.), Noah Cheney (Bend, Ore.), and Christian Garcia (Miami, Fla.) all tallied 11 points in the contest.

Eastern Nazarene claimed an 11-6 lead with 15:03 left to play in the first half after an 8-0 spurt.

After Fisher pulled to within two, the Lions rattled off 11 unanswered points to widen the margin to 24-11 with 10:35 to go in the opening period.

The Falcons erased an eight-point deficit with an 11-0 run to snag a 32-29 edge with 3:04 remaining in the first frame.

The visitors extended their advantage to 39-31 before Levi Grady-White (Springfield, Mass.) and Garcia each sank a free throw in the final minute of the half to cut the home side's deficit to 39-33 heading into the halftime intermission.

Eastern Nazarene sported a field-goal percentage of 52.4% at the break to go along with 5-for-10 shooting from beyond the arc. Fisher shot 46.9% from the floor in the first half and 40% from three-point land.

Rice poured in a game-high 11 points in the opening frame while Garcia added six points off the bench.

The Falcons stretched the gap to 14 points, their largest lead of the game, with 15:07 left to play in regulation on a bucket by Paul Oha Jr., 51-37.

The Lions manufactured a 22-4 run to recapture the lead, 61-57, with 5:53 remaining in the contest.

Fisher claimed a 72-67 edge with 37 seconds to go in the second stanza on a free throw by Kyle Williams.

Eastern Nazarene responded with a straight-away three-pointer by Rice to narrow the margin to 72-70 with 26 seconds left to play. The hosts knotted the contest at 72-72 on a back-door layup by Rice with eight seconds on the clock.

The guests' Jhalen Lumpkins dribbled down the left wing before banking in a last-second shot as Fisher escaped with a two-point victory.

The Lions shot 46% from the floor and 33.3% from beyond the arc on the afternoon. The Falcons concluded the game with a field-goal percentage of 44.4% while connecting on 12-of-32 from long distance.

Lumpkins poured in a game-high 24 points to pace Fisher while Oha Jr. added 10 points and eight boards.

Up next, Eastern Nazarene will host Westfield State December 10.