Men’s Basketball Cruises Past Lesley, 100-72

QUINCY, Mass.-  The Eastern Nazarene College men's basketball team rolled to a 100-72 victory over Lesley Saturday evening at the Lahue Athletic Center.

The Lions elevate to 10-9 on the season and 2-0 in the New England Collegiate Conference with the win. The Lynx slide to 2-14 overall and 0-2 in league play with the setback.

Nick Manso (Brick, N.J.) poured in 23 points to go with four assists and four steals. Will Zarges (Quincy, Mass.) netted a career-best 17 points off the bench while hauling in seven rebounds. Bernie McGuinness (Cumming, Ga.) finished with 13 points and five boards. Levi Grady-White (Springfield, Mass.) notched 12 points and a team-high nine rebounds. Corey McGhee (Alexandria, Va.) added 11 points while Deonta Pearson (Westland, Mich.) chipped in with six points and nine boards.

The home team raced out to a 10-3 lead just two minutes into the game before the visitors cut the deficit to 13-12 with 14:57 remaining in the first half on a pair of treys.

Eastern Nazarene extended its advantage to 12 points, 39-27, as Manso splashed his fifth three-pointer of the opening frame.

The Lions sported a 51-40 lead at the break after shooting 57.1% from the floor and 41.2% from beyond the arc in the first 20 minutes of action. Lesley owned a field-goal percentage of 51.9% at the midway point while connecting on 10-of-14 from long range.

The hosts stretched the gap to 79-54 with 9:57 on the clock in the second stanza as a trey by Zarges capped off an 11-0 run.

A bucket by Lukas Battisti (New South Wales, Australia) in the final minute of regulation pushed Eastern Nazarene into triple-digits on the scoreboard for the second time this season.

The Lions concluded the contest with a field-goal percentage of 51.4% to go with a 13-for-33 showing from three-point territory. The Lynx shot 43.3% from the floor and 47.8% from downtown on the night.

Marco Powells scored a team-high 23 points for Lesley while Auston Slay and Davion Fields each tallied 17 points.

Up next, Eastern Nazarene will head to Mitchell February 9 for a crucial conference tilt.