QUINCY, Mass. - The Eastern Nazarene men's basketball team topped Curry 82-78 in a hard-fought matchup Saturday afternoon at the Lahue Physical Education Center.
The win propels the Lions to 13-4 overall and 7-4 in the Commonwealth Coast Conference. The Colonels fall to 4-15 on the year and 3-9 in league play with the loss.
Eastern Nazarene opened up a seven-point lead to start the game. Eric Lynch banked in a lay-up 2:12 into the game to push the score to 9-2.
Curry cut the deficit to one with 13:56 remaining in the half as Paul Preziosi tossed in a lay-up, 14-13.
The Lions regained a six-point edge with 10:52 left to play in the period as Jaylen Owens sank a free throw to complete a three-point play, 24-18.
The Colonels knotted the score at 27-27 as Alex Kershaw scored on a lay-up with 7:47 on the clock. On the visitors' next possession, Thomas McLean knocked down the first of two free throws to give Curry its first lead of the game, 28-27.
Eastern Nazarene established a six-point lead with 3:54 left to play in the half as Justin Wagner drained a trey and Owens followed with a jumper, 38-32.
The Colonels evened the contest at 42-42 heading into the final minute of the opening stanza as Kershaw completed a three-point play at the charity stripe.
The Lions took a 44-42 lead with less than 30 seconds remaining on a pair of free throws by Eric Lynch.
Curry tied up the score just before halftime as Antonio Jones' lay-up beat the buzzer, leveling the sides at 44-44.
The home side shot 57.1% from the floor in the opening frame and 50.0% from downtown. The visitors boasted a field-goal percentage of 52.8% at halftime, despite being limited to 1-of-5 shooting from three-point range.
Curry began the second half on a 7-2 run to grab a 51-46 edge with 18:07 left to play.
Eastern Nazarene jumped ahead by two with 14:36 on the clock as Owens drilled a three-pointer, 53-51.
The Lions widened the gap to five points on a pair of free throws by Owens with 7:23 remaining.
The Colonels answered with five straight points to tie the game at 69-69. The home team responded with a 5-0 stretch to reclaim a 74-69 advantage with 4:20 to go.
The final 13 points of the contest were scored at the charity line as the two squads combined for 19 free throw attempts in the last 3:10.
Eastern Nazarene connected on 49.1% of its field-goal efforts on the afternoon, including 50.0% from beyond the arc. Curry finished with a field-goal percentage of 50.0% to go with 4-for-10 shooting from long distance.
The Colonels were led by Lambros Papalambros with a game-high 27 points.
