Men’s Basketball Falls to New England College in NECC Semifinals

QUINCY, Mass.- The No. 2 seed Eastern Nazarene College men's basketball team dropped a 79-72 decision to third-seeded New England College Wednesday evening at the Lahue Athletic Center in the New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) Tournament semifinals.        

THE BASICS:
Score: Eastern Nazarene 89, New England College 96
Records: Lions (11-15) | Pilgrims (8-17)

HOW IT HAPPENED:

• Eastern Nazarene connected on six of its first seven three-point attempts en route to grabbing a 22-12 lead with 12:40 left to play in the opening half.
• New England College battled back to cut the deficit to 27-26 with 8:31 remaining in the first frame on a trey by Kyle Dzarnowski.
• After the visitors leveled the score at 29-29, the Lions rattled off eight unanswered points to claim a 37-29 advantage.
• The Pilgrims responded with an 11-0 run to seize a 40-37 edge with 1:52 on the clock in the first half.
• The home team knotted the contest at 42-42 with 53 seconds to go in the opening period as Nick Manso (Brick, N.J.) splashed a three-pointer.
• New England College snagged a 44-42 edge on a bucket by Kyle Inglis just before the halftime buzzer.
• The guests widened the margin to 63-56 with 9:09 remaining in regulation as Michael Hills converted a pair of free throws.
• Eastern Nazarene narrowed the gap on a three-pointer by JaWaun Moore (Dayton, Ohio), 69-68, with 4:19 on the clock.
• After a layup and free throw by Kyle Inglis pushed the Pilgrims' advantage to 74-70 with 2:46 left to play, the Lions responded with a putback-layup by JaWaun Moore (Dayton, OhIo) to pull to within two, 74-72, with 2:30 remaining.
• New England College wrapped up the contest with a 5-0 run to secure a spot in the NECC championship game February 25.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE:

• JaWaun Moore (Dayton, Ohio) poured in a game-high 20 points while adding nine rebounds and eight assists.
• Nick Manso (Brick, N.J.) netted 18 points off the bench while Kobe Jones (Picayune, Miss.) tallied 16 points.
• Bernie McGuinness (Cumming, Ga.) chipped in with 13 points and seven boards while Levi White (Springfield, Mass.) hauled in a game-best 10 rebounds.
• Eastern Nazarene concluded the contest with a field-goal percentage of 45% while draining 13-of-33 from beyond the arc.
• New England College shot 50% from the floor and 42.9% from three-point territory on the night.
• Nick Gomeau and Kyle Inglis both scored 14 points to lead the Pilgrims while Alex Williams notched 12 points.