Men’s Basketball Breezes by Lesley 84-64

MEDFORD, Mass.- The Eastern Nazarene College men's basketball team topped Lesley 84-64 Saturday afternoon to remain undefeated in conference action.

The Lions climb to 8-8 on the year and 4-0 in the New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) with the victory. The Lynx slide to 0-14 overall and 0-3 in league competition with the result.

Josh Rice (Hanson, Mass.) splashed seven treys to net a game-best 23 points. Garrett Crandell (Bristol, Tenn.) notched a double-double with 20 points and 11 rebounds to go with five assists. David Lopez (Miami, Fla.) posted 16 points and nine boards.

The two squads traded buckets before the visitors jumped ahead by six with 14:18 remaining in the first half on a three-pointer by Rice, 15-9.

Eastern Nazarene pushed its lead to double digits with 12:28 on the clock as Lopez tossed in a layup, 22-12 before Christian Garcia (Miami, Fla.) capped off a 19-0 run with a pair of free throws to extend the margin to 34-12 with 9:41 to go in the opening frame.

The Lions finished the first period with nine consecutive points to boast a 48-18 halftime cushion.

Despite Lesley finishing with a 46-36 advantage in second-half scoring, Eastern Nazarene picked up its fourth-straight victory.

The Lions shot 44.1% from the floor and 41.4% from beyond the arc on the day. The Lynx concluded the contest with a field-goal percentage of 39.3% while connecting on 9-of-29 from three-point range.

Kostas Tatsis paced the hosts with 21 points and 11 rebounds while Treyvon Trent chipped in with 10 points.

Looking ahead, Eastern Nazarene returns home to battle New England College January 22.