Men’s Basketball Starts Season with 75-64 Win at Salve Regina

NEWPORT, R.I.-  The Eastern Nazarene College men's basketball team opened the 2021-22 campaign with a 75-64 victory at Salve Regina Saturday in head coach Logan Sharp's debut.

The Lions improve to 1-0 on the young season while the Seahawks slip to 0-1 overall with the result.

Bernie McGuinness (Cumming, Ga.) scored a game-high 22 points and grabbed seven rebounds in his first game in a Lions uniform. Levi Grady-White (Springfield, Mass.) netted 11 points while Nick Manso (Brick, N.J.) tallied 10 points. Corey McGhee (Alexandria, Va.) and Ozzy Traill III (Valley Stream, N.Y.) each finished with eight points.

The home team strung together a 13-0 run to establish an 11-point lead, 18-7, with 10:41 remaining in the first half.

The visitors concluded the opening frame with nine unanswered points to cut the deficit to 31-25. Eastern Nazarene canned six free throws in the final 2:37 of the period before Pat Taylor (Lakeland, Fla.) splashed a three-pointer at the halftime-horn.

The Lions managed a field-goal percentage of 25.85 in the first half while draining 2-of-8 from long distance. Salve Regina shot 45.8% from the floor and 28.6% from beyond the arc in the opening 20 minutes of action.

Eastern Nazarene clawed back to level the game at 35-35 with 16:34 left to play in regulation as McGuinness converted a three-point play with a free throw.

The Lions seized a two-point edge, 43-41, with 14:13 on the clock on a layup by Manso.

The guests stretched their advantage to 68-62 with 2:48 to go as Taylor banked in a layup.

Eastern Nazarene went 5-for-6 from the charity stripe in the final minute of play to lock up its first victory of the year.

The Lions shot 41.4% from the floor and 31.6% from behind the arc on the day. The Seahawks finished the game with a field-goal percentage of 46.7% while connecting on 5-of-21 from three-point range.

Cameron Collins paced Salve Regina with 18 points while Clay Brochu poured in 11 points off the bench and Kevin Kelly contributed 10 points.

Up next, Eastern Nazarene returns to the Ocean State to face Rhode Island College November 9.