Men’s Basketball Posts 103-92 Win Over Fisher

QUINCY, Mass.- The Eastern Nazarene College men's basketball team returned to the hardwood Tuesday evening and collected a 103-92 victory over Fisher at the Lahue Athletic Center.

The Lions climb to 7-7 on the year with the win while the Falcons fall to 4-10 overall.

Deonta Pearson (Westland, Mich.) poured in a career-high 24 points on 8-for-8 shooting from the floor and a 3-for-3 effort from beyond the arc. Bernie McGuinness (Cumming, Ga.) netted 22 points and grabbed five rebounds. Ozzy Traill (Valley Stream, N.Y.) finished with 21 points, seven assists, and six boards. Ka'Shaun Swan (Lawrenceville, Ga.) tallied 19 points while Corey McGhee (Alexandria, Va.) added eight points and eight rebounds off the bench.

After chalking up the first five points, the home side stretched its lead to 17-7 with 15:16 remaining in the first half on a three-point play by Swan.

The visitors cut the deficit to 25-22 as Geovanni Baugh sank the first of two free throw attempts with 9:57 on the clock.

Eastern Nazarene reclaimed a double-digit advantage with 7:36 left in the opening frame as Swan splashed a trey, 34-24.

Fisher pulled to within four, 40-36, before the Lions closed out the first period with a 7-4 run to hold a 47-40 lead at the halftime intermission.

The hosts shot 52.9% from the floor and 46.2% from three-point range in the opening 20 minutes of action. The Falcons posted a field-goal percentage of 45.7% in the first half to go with 5-for-13 shooting from long distance.

Buckets by Swan and McGuinness to start the second stanza extended Eastern Nazarene's advantage to 51-40.

The Lions widened the gap to 70-56 on a three-pointer by Swan with 9:25 remaining in regulation.

The home team pushed the margin to 16 points with 3:06 to go in the second frame as Traill banked in a layup, 90-74.

Eastern Nazarene captured its largest lead of the contest with 1:29 left to play as McGhee converted a pair of free throws, 95-78. The Lions chalked up their final 11 points of the game at the charity stripe, draining 11-of-13 attempts down the stretch to lock up their first win of the calendar year.

Eastern Nazarene finished with field-goal percentage of 57.1% to go with a 12-for-22 performance from behind the arc. Fisher shot 48.1% from the floor and 40% from three-point territory on the night.

Ke'Andre Penceal paced the Falcons with 22 points and nine rebounds while Justin Person, Johnny Ortiz, and Kyle Butler-Gaffney all registered 14 points.

Looking ahead, Eastern Nazarene will open conference play January 22 at Lesley.