Men’s Basketball Suffers Road Loss at Mitchell

NEW LONDON, Conn.- The Eastern Nazarene College men's basketball team absorbed a 95-74 setback at Mitchell in non-conference action Monday night.

The Lions fall to 8-9 on the season with the result while the Mariners improve to 10-8 overall.

Bernie McGuinness (Cumming, Ga.) netted a team-best 17 points and grabbed five rebounds. Levi Grady-White (Springfield, Mass.) posted his second-straight double-double with 14 points and 11 boards on the night. Nick Manso (Brick, N.J.) chipped in with 12 points off the bench.

The guests started the contest with an 11-2 run as Pat Taylor (Lakeland, Fla.) capped off a 9-0 run with a layup 3:42 into the game.

The home side battled back to tie the score at 22-22 on a trey by Hunter Baillargeon before a jumper by Alfonzo Stokes with 8:42 remaining in the first frame gave the Mariners a 24-22 edge.

Mitchell pushed its advantage to 34-27 with 3:26 to go in the half on a tip-in by Ahmani Browne.

Eastern Nazarene trimmed the deficit to 43-38 as Manso tossed in a layup just before the halftime horn.

Eastern Nazarene shot 44.4% from the floor and 40% from beyond the arc in the first half. Mitchell posted a field-goal percentage of 42.9% in the opening period while connecting on 4-of-8 from three-point range.

The Lions pulled even at 43-43 with 17:21 on the clock as Deonta Pearson (Westland, Mich.) sank the second of two free throw attempt.

The Mariners responded with seven-straight points to claim a 50-43 lead with 16:03 left to play.

The hosts extended the margin to 19 with 6:40 remaining in regulation on a basket by Stokes, 79-60.

Mitchell outscored Eastern Nazarene 52-36 in the second stanza to collect its fifth-consecutive victory.

The visitors concluded the contest with a field-goal percentage of 41.7% to go with a 7-for-20 effort from behind the arc. The home team shot 53.3% from the floor and 50% from long range on the evening.

Jalen Benson poured in a game-high 29 points for Mitchell while Stokes notched 23 points and 10 rebounds.

Looking ahead, Eastern Nazarene will open conference play February 2 at home against New England College.