Jan 15, 2013
BIDDEFORD, Maine -- Eastern Nazarene College saw its double-digit lead early in the second period sliced to just one in the latter stages of the contest, but managed to escape with a 61-55 Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) men's basketball victory over the University of New England on Tuesday (Jan. 15) at the Harold Alfond Forum.
Trailing 31-19 after the initial four points of the final frame went for the Lions, a basket by UNE junior Joshua Butler (Nantucket, Mass.) made the deficit only one (45-44) with just under seven minutes remaining.
ENC increased the margin back up to on three occasions over the next few minutes, but a steal and lay-up off a sideline play by Nor'easters junior Charles Fenner III (Bronx, N.Y.) trimmed the gap to one again (54-53) with 34 seconds on the clock.
First-year Justin Wagner (Oklahoma City, Okla.) beat the defense back down the court and earned three points the hard way to extend the Lions' lead to four (57-53), only to see UNE first-year Devin Thompson (Winthrop, Mass.) get a quick two on the other end to make it 57-55 with 18 ticks left.
Wagner and Eastern Nazarene senior Chima Ezeigbo (Roanoke, Va.) each converted a pair at the charity stripe in the closing moments to seal the victory.
Ezeigbo notched a game-high 20 points to go with a team-best nine rebounds and two blocked shots to pace the Lions (10-3, 5-2 CCC), who never trailed in the game. Classmate Mike McCoy (Altamonte Springs, Fla.) added 12 points on 5-of-8 shooting, while first-year Jaylen Owens (Johns Creek, Ga.) totaled eight points and dished out seven assists.
Thompson led the Nor'easters (2-11, 1-6 CCC) with 14 points and grabbed eight rebounds. Butler finished the night with 11 points and nine caroms. Sophomore Jake Abel (Fairfield, Calif.) had nine points and five assists.
Though ENC got out to an 8-0 cushion with a little over four minutes gone in the first half, both offensive units were held in-check for the majority of the stanza. Big Blue answered with eight of the next nine points, followed by a 10-3 spurt from the Lions to make it 19-11 at the 7:20 mark.
A jumper from Abel and back-to-back treys from senior Conor Draleau (Shirley, Mass.) provided the Nor'easters with a brief tie on the scoreboard (19-19), however six points by Ezeigbo and a pair for Wagner set things at 27-19 in favor of the visitors heading into the halftime break.
Both sides hit the road Thursday (7:30 p.m.) for their next outings -- Eastern Nazarene will visit Curry College, and UNE heads to Endicott College.