Men’s Basketball Outlasts Maine Maritime, 66-65

CASTINE, Maine- In its first contest of the 2020 calendar year, the Eastern Nazarene College men's basketball team triumphed 66-65 at Maine Maritime Academy Thursday afternoon.

The Lions improve to 4-7 on the season with the win while the Mariners sink to 2-6 overall.

Noah Cheney (Bend, Ore.) poured in a game-high 19 points while adding three steals, three rebounds, and two assists. Garrett Crandell (Bristol, Tenn.) netted 15 points and grabbed six boards off the bench. Jacob Waldroop (Newland, N.C.) finished with 13 points, four steals, and three assists. Ricky Shearman (Acworth, Ga.) racked up 11 points, eight rebounds, and three assists.

After the two teams traded buckets, the hosts established a five-point margin with 14:51 remaining in the first half, 11-6.

Maine Maritime extended its lead to 27-18 with 6:55 left to play in the opening period as Malachi Reincke converted a three-point play from the charity stripe.

Eastern Nazarene jumped ahead 35-34 with 1:56 on the clock as Cheney banked in a mid-range jumper.

The Mariners responded with a basket and free throw by Kimani Anderson to carry a 37-35 edge into the halftime intermission.

Eastern Nazarene shot 41.2% from the floor and 28.6% from beyond the arc in the opening half. Maine Maritime posted a field-goal percentage of 56.0% in the first frame while connecting on 3-of-10 from long distance.

The visitors tallied the first seven points of the second stanza to claim a 42-37 advantage.

The home side cut the deficit to 47-45 with 14:20 to go in regulation on a bucket by Riley Jorgenson.

The Lions answered with six straight points to push their lead to eight with 13:09 remaining, 53-45.

The Mariners knotted the game at 59-59 on a layup by Jorgenson with 6:30 left to play.

Cheney gave Eastern Nazarene a one-point edge with two minutes on the clock as he sank a free throw, 64-63.

The guests widened the gap to 66-63 on a pair of free throws by Shearman with 29 seconds to go in the contest.

Maine Maritime managed to tally a layup with one second remaining to trim the margin to 66-65 before Eastern Nazarene dribbled out the final tick of the clock to secure its first-ever win over the Mariners.

The Lions concluded the contest with a field-goal percentage of 39.4% to go with 6-of-28 shooting from three-point range. The Mariners shot 51% from the floor and 25% from behind the arc on the day.

Reincke paced Maine Maritime with 17 points off the bench while Anderson added 13 points and Jorgenson chipped in with 12 points.

Looking ahead, Eastern Nazarene will head to Curry January 4.