Eastern Nazarene downs Men's Basketball on Saturday
MILTON, Mass. – The University of Dallas men's basketball team fell 66-58 on Saturday to Eastern Nazarene College on the campus of Curry College in the "Thanksgiving Classic." The Crusaders (1-4) have concluded one of two season-long, five-game road trips this season.
Both teams struggled to find the bottom of the net in the opening stanza, as Eastern Nazarene held a 19-16 advantage by intermission. At the halfway mark of the next 20-minute half, both squads had matched that output, and combined for 89 points.
It took nearly two minutes for the first field goal to count in second frame, but a trifecta from junior Lorenzo Gonzalez (San Antonio, Texas) knotted the game 19-all and began a 5-0 run. Sophomore Emmanuel Calton (Keller, Texas) scored the remaining baskets on the 7-2 swing, with both counting as go-ahead field goals for the Crusaders at the time.
The Lions (6-0) gained the momentum they required to secure their unblemished streak with an 8-0 run to push a 30-23 lead on the scoreboard. Consecutive treys from Jeremy Wagner and Jaylen Owens sparked the scoring stretch.
Dallas countered with six unanswered points, with the latter four coming from freshman Ronnie Horner (Forney, Texas). Those four counted toward six of his points off the bench and matched a season-high. Despite pulling within one point on two occasions just over the midway point, the Crusaders never gained the lead the remainder of the contest.
Another run, this time 10-4, by Eastern Nazarene, which started with five consecutive free throws by ENC; would change a one-point edge to eight (42-34) with 9:26 minutes remaining. From there, the Lions controlled the game until the final horn.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Freshman Prince Giadolor (Rockwall, Texas) has broken double figure scoring performances in four of five games this season. His latest was a career-high 19 points to match the highest output by a player. 15 of his points occurred in the 2nd.
- Other notable individual statistics included: Gonzalez chipping in 11 points and Calton with seven. Sophomore Rory MacCallum (Golden, Colo.) captured his first career double-digit rebounding performance with 10. Giadolor snatched half of UD's six steals.
- Each team shot about 36-percent from the floor. Eastern Nazarene was 33.3-percent (6-for-18) while Dallas was 20-percent (3-for-15) from beyond the arc. The Crusaders were an uncharacteristic 43.8-percent (7-for-16) at the charity stripe.
- UD won the rebounding battle 47-40, but committed more turnovers, 16-12. The Navy and White outscored its opponent 15-5 from miscues. Both teams had six steals.
- Leading the Lions in scoring was Christian Lynch with 19 off the bench. Owens followed with 14 and Eric Lynch rounded the trio of double-digit performers with 11. David Eddings and Wagner added eight points each, and Eddings grabbed game-high 12 boards.
QUOTE FROM COACH SAMPLES
"We played solid defense and held them to less than 40-percent from the field. Unfortunately, we couldn't finish some open looks that we had on the other end, which we have to be able to knock down. The team has to learn from the mistakes and get ready for our home-opener next weekend." –Head Coach Jarred Samples
UP NEXT
Dallas will enjoy a four-game homestand starting with the opener on December 6 versus Hendrix College. Tip-off is slated for around 4 p.m. after the Dallas women's basketball tilt.