Men’s Hoops Edges New England College in NECC-Opener, 80-77

QUINCY, Mass.- The Eastern Nazarene College men's basketball team collected an 80-77 victory over New England College Wednesday evening at the Lahue Athletic Center in the first conference clash of the campaign.

The Lions climb to 9-9 on the season and 0-1 in the New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) with the win. The Pilgrims drop to 7-11 overall and 0-1 in league action with the loss.

Levi Grady-White (Springfield, Mass.) scored a game-high 26 points and hauled in eight rebounds. Bernie McGuinness (Cumming, Ga.) netted 24 points and gathered eight boards. Nick Manso (Brick, N.J.) added eight points while Ozzy Traill III (Valley Stream, N.Y.) finished with seven assists and four points.

The visitors opened the game with a torrid 11-2 run in the first three minutes of play.

The home side pulled even at 17-17 with 12:18 remaining in the half as McGuinness splashed a trey.

Eastern Nazarene stretched the margin to 28-18 on a three-pointer by Will Zarges (Quincy, Mass.) with 9:43 on the clock.

The Lions owned a 48-37 advantage at the halftime intermission and shot 59.4% from the floor while sinking 7-of-11 from three-point range. New England College posted a field-goal percentage of 36.4% in the first frame and connected on 6-of-12 from behind the arc.

 The Pilgrims cut the deficit to 65-62 with 8:19 left to play on a fast-break layup by Calvin Cheek.

Eastern Nazarene extended its lead to 75-67 with 4:19 to go in regulation as Grady-White tossed in a layup.

New England College narrowed the gap to 79-77 with seven seconds remaining on a pair of free throws by Jamal Allen.

The home team secured the win as McGuinness drilled the first of two free throws with less than four seconds on the clock.

Eastern Nazarene shot 51.8% from the floor and 52.6% from long distance on the night. New England College finished with a field-goal percentage of 40.8% while nailing 9-of-23 from beyond the arc.

Allen paced the Pilgrism with 23 points while Kareem Octavien contributed with 18 points and seven assists.

Looking ahead, Eastern Nazarene will host Lesley February 5 in conference action.