Men's Basketball 2/4/2014 10:17:00 PM

Eastern Nazarene holds off Men’s Basketball

Box Score BRISTOL, R.I. – A late second half drought halted a comeback bid by the Roger Williams University Men's Basketball team, allowing Eastern Nazarene College to hold on for a 69-55 win.

Roger Williams trailed for most of the game before pulling within one halfway into the second period. Yet a seven-minute scoreless stretch for RWU kept the Hawks from completing a chance to regain the lead.

ENC's Justin Wagner (Oklahoma City, Okla.) and RWU's Josh Syska (Peabody, Mass.) alternated three-pointers to open the contest. That would be a theme over the course of the early part of the game, as both teams traded leads eight times in the half.

The turning point came on Christian Lynch's (Alpharetta, Ga.) fastbreak bucket with 9:37 left in the first, breaking a 13-all tie as part of an 8-0 Lion run. Eastern Nazarene took a 19-13 advantage and would go up by as many as 11 (36-25) in the final minute. Yet the Hawks' Chris Bardwell (North Andover, Mass.) hit the last shot of the half to bring the Hawks within nine at halftime.

Eastern Nazarene took its largest lead of the game at that point on a Justin Wagner trey, putting the Lions up 41-29 with 16:37 left. ENC looked to be cruising to a win, but the Hawks still had a second-half charge in them.

RWU managed to hold the Lions to only four points over the following six minutes. Conversely, RWU chipped away at the lead until a Joseph Henry (Medway, Mass.) layup brought the Hawks to within one (44-45) with 10:03 left.

However, the Hawks were not able to regain the lead. RWU shot 1-for-6 from the field with three turnovers over the next seven minutes, allowing the Lions to build the advantage back to nine with 3:50 to play. They would then sink nine of the last ten free throws in the final 1:35 to secure the victory.

Eric Lynch (Alpharetta, Ga.) led the way with 19 points and five rebounds for ENC. Alex Jarman (Portsmouth, R.I.) followed with 12 points and five boards, while Justin Wagner went for ten points and another five rebounds. Jaylen Owens (Johns Creek, Ga.) notched six points and a game-high ten assists.

Syska and Jake LePrevost (Lee, Mass.) each scored 11 for RWU, with Syska adding eight rebounds to LePrevost's five. Ryan Palumbo (Warwick, R.I.) finished with eight points and six assists, while Will Gerencer (Bowdoin, Maine) scored nine off the bench.

Roger Williams (6-14, 5-8 CCC) heads to Endicott on Saturday, while Eastern Nazarene (14-4, 8-4 CCC) goes to Nichols on Thursday.

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