Men’s Basketball Falls to Plymouth State, 92-87, in Overtime

QUINCY, Mass.- The Eastern Nazarene College men's basketball team suffered a 92-87 setback to Plymouth State Thursday evening at the Lahue Athletic Center in a thrilling non-conference clash.

The Lions slip to 5-5 on the season with the loss while the Panthers improve to 5-3 overall.

Bernie McGuinness (Cumming, Ga.) poured in a game-high 25 points and added eight boards. Levi Grady-White (Springfield, Mass.) posted his second double-double of the year with 16 points and 15 rebounds. Ozzy Traill III (Valley Stream, N.Y.) finished with a career-high 16 points and dished out five assists. Corey McGhee (Alexandria, Va.) netted 14 points while Nick Manso (Brick, N.J.) tallied 13.

The home team established a double-digit advantage with 15:31 remaining in the first half, 19-8, on a fast-break layup and free throw by Traill.

The guests cut the deficit to 19-17 with an 8-0 run with 12:55 on the clock.

Plymouth State pulled even at 23-23 on a trey by Giorgi Tsiklauri with 11:03 left to play in the opening frame.

The Panthers grabbed a six-point edge with 4:35 to go in the first as Devin Cooper banked in a layup, 36-30.

Eastern Nazarene seized a 43-41 lead as McGuinness tossed in a layup at the halftime buzzer.

The Lions posted a field-goal percentage of 48.5% and drained 33.3% of their three-point attempts in the first 20 minutes of action. Plymouth State shot 50% from the floor and 38.5% from long distance in the opening period.

Eastern Nazarene stretched the gap to eight, 61-53, with 13:42 remaining in the second stanza on a put-back layup by Grady-White.

The visitors strung together an 8-0 run to knot the score at 61-61 with 10:37 left in regulation.

The hosts widened the margin to 75-66 with 3:53 to go as McGuinness splashed a corner three-pointer.

Plymouth State closed out the second frame with nine unanswered points to level the game at 75-75 and force overtime.

The Panthers jumped out to an 84-79 advantage with 2:48 remaining in the overtime period on a layup by Dante Rivera.

The guests extended their lead to 90-84 on a put-back layup by Kyler Bosse with 23 ticks left on the clock.

Eastern Nazarene shot 47.1% from the floor and 35.7% from beyond the arc on the night. Plymouth State concluded the contest with a field-goal percentage of 52.7% and connected on 9-of-26 from three-point range.

Bosse paced the Panthers with 21 points off the bench while Rivera recorded 17 points. Yansel Reyes notched a double-double with 10 points and 12 assists.

Looking ahead, Eastern Nazarene will head to Gordon December 9.