Men’s Basketball Clipped by Fitchburg State 69-68 Thursday

QUINCY, Mass.- The Eastern Nazarene College men's basketball team endured a 69-68 loss to Fitchburg State Thursday evening at the Lahue Athletic Center.

THE BASICS:
Score: Eastern Nazarene 68, Fitchburg State 69
Records: Lions (6-8) | Falcons (5-6)

                                   
HOW IT HAPPENED:

• The visitors established a 10-point lead with 6:37 remaining in the first half on a basket by Javon Taylor, 28-18.
• Eastern Nazarene outscored Fitchburg State 14-10 in the final five minutes of the opening frame to cut the halftime deficit to 38-35.
• The Lions grabbed a seven-point advantage with 8:30 left to play in regulation as Kobe Jones (Picayune, Miss.) splashed a three-pointer, 60-53.
• The Falcons pulled even at 67-67 with 1:39 on the clock on a trey by Frederick Siayor.
• Eastern Nazarene reclaimed a one-point edge, 68-67, as Bernie McGuinness (Cumming, Ga.) sank a free throw with 1:15 to go.
• Fitchburg State responded with a put-back layup by Quincy Taylor to seize a 69-68 lead with 54 seconds remaining and escaped with the one-point victory.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE:

• Bernie McGuinness (Cumming, Ga.) notched his fourth double-double of the season, scoring a team-high 22 points and hauling in a career-best 17 rebounds.
• Levi White (Springfield, Mass.) finished with 13 points and eight boards.
• Kobe Jones (Picayune, Miss.) tallied 13 points and dished out four assists.
• JaWaun Moore (Dayton, Ohio) registered 11 points, nine rebounds, and seven assists on the night.
• Eastern Nazarene shot 38.1% from the floor and 29.6% from behind the arc in the contest.
• Fitchburg State finished with a field-goal percentage of 34.6% and connected on 5-of-28 from three-point range on the night.
• Quincy Taylor paced all players with 25 points and 21 rebounds. Javon Taylor also recorded a double-double for the Falcons with 21 points and 10 boards.

LOOKING AHEAD:

Eastern Nazarene travels to Medgar Evers January 7 for the first-ever matchup between the two teams.