QUINCY, Mass. – Junior guard Max Barbosa (Dorchester, Mass.) connected on 7-of-12 field goals, en route to a game-high 24 points, while classmate Chima Ezeigbo (Roanoke, Va.) added 20 points as the Eastern Nazarene men's basketball team won its first game of the 2011-12 campaign, handing Wentworth its first setback with a 73-66 win in a Commonwealth Coast Conference contest played at the Lahue Center. The Lions outscored the Leopards by a 23-9 margin over the game's final 7:45.
The Leopards raced out to a 17-2 lead over the first 7:27 with senior guard Adam Dombrowski (Dunstable, Mass.) scoring seven of Wentworth's 17 points during the run. After junior Corey Therriault's (Auburn, Maine) basket with 6:46 left in the half gave Wentworth a 24-13 lead, the Lions outscored the Leopards by a 17-9 margin to close the half and trailed, 33-30, capped off by a pair of Barbosa free throws in the waning seconds of the half.
Freshman forward John-Michael Fragnoli (Scotia, N.Y.) scored to give Wentworth a 35-30 lead to open the second half before Eastern Nazarene scored the next four points to cut the gap to one. However, Dombrowski buried a three to push the lead back to four with 18:00 left.
The Leopards would lead by as many as nine with 8:01 left on a sophomore guard Derek Mayo (Casco, Maine) jumper, but Eastern Nazarene used a 12-0 run to take a three-point lead (60-57) on a sophomore guard John Cramer (Corning, N.Y.) basket with 4:57 left in the half.
Each team traded baskets down the stretch after Therriault hit a baseline jump shot that knotted the game up at 60 with just over four minutes remaining.
After trading baskets, the Leopards would eventually go ahead by three before Barbosa hit one of two free throws and Egziebo cleaned up a rebound off the second attempt and put it back off the glass to give the Lions a 68-66 lead with under two minutes remaining.
Egziebo's put back turned out to be the game winner as Wentworth would miss a pair of free throws and Eastern Nazarene would connect on five of six from the charity stripe down the stretch. The Lions shot 63.6 percent in the second half and 51.2 percent for the game.
Dombrowski led the Leopards with 18 points to go along with six assists, while Therriault added 10 points, seven rebounds, three assists, and three steals.
Eastern Nazarene (1-5, 1-1 CCC) is at Lesley on Monday, while the Leopards (4-1, 1-1) host Connecticut College on Tuesday.
(Portions of this release courtesy of Eastern Nazarene Sports Information)
