QUINCY, Mass. -- Eastern Nazarene College closed the game with a 12-4 run to take a 69-61 victory over University of New England in a mutual Commonwealth Coast Conference men's basketball opener Wednesday night (Dec. 4) at the Lahue Center.

Jaylen Owens scored a game-high 21 points for the unbeaten Lions (6-0, 1-0 CCC), He had five of Eastern Nazarene's final 12 points and finished the contest with five assists and a pair of steals. Eric Lynch contributed 12 points and Justin Wagner 11.

Devin Thompson had 17 points to lead the Nor'easters (0-6, 0-1). He was 3-for-5 from three-point land. Kurt Steiner added 12 points, while Brayden Morse posted a double-double with 11 points and a game-high 11 rebounds to go with a pair of blocked shots.

With the score tied at 57 and 2:22 on the clock, the Lions reeled off eight consecutive points to grab control. Christian Lynch made 1 of 2 free throws to get the run going, then Owens buried a jumper to give ENC a 60-57 lead. Wagner sandwiched a pair of two-shot free conversions around a freebie by Owens to make the score 65-57 in favor of the hosts with 39 seconds in the game.

The Lions would make 4 of 4 free throw attempts in the closing seconds to seal the victory.

UNE got off to a scorching start, grabbing a 16-1 lead just 5:35 into the tilt. Morse scored five points to help key the strong opening.

Eastern Nazarene responded by scoring the next eight points to help break the Nor'easters' momentum. The Lions would continue to chip away at the deficit and eventually pulled even (32-32) on two free throws by Eric Lynch with one tick on the clock in the first half.

The Lions opened the second half with seven consecutive points to grab a 39-32 lead. The two teams would go back-and-forth for a good portion of the frame before UNE erased an eight-point deficit to pull even (57-57) on Morse's layup with 2:22 remaining.

The stat sheet was nearly identical with the exception of the free fthrow column. Eastern Nazarene went to the line 31 times -- making 22 -- while UNE was 7 of 15 at the stripe.

Big Blue returns to action Saturday (Dec. 7) with a 3 p.m. contest versus Western New England University.