QUINCY, Mass. - Nine players scored in double figures in the Commonwealth Coast Conference match-up between Eastern Nazarene College and Curry College Thursday night. The Lions rallied down the stretch to take the Colonels into overtime tied at 64, but fell short in the final minutes of the overtime period to lose the game 78-67.

The contest featured twelve ties as the evenly matched teams battled it out. The first half saw six ties and five lead changes, with the Colonels holding slight 36-35 advantage after the first twenty minutes.

The second half was tight the entire way through, with neither team leading by more than four points. With 2:59 to play, Curry grabbed a four point lead after sophomore Lambros Papalambros hit a jump-shot. Two free-throws from junior Chima Ezeigbo put the Lions within two 15 seconds later. Colonel senior Andrew Veilleux would respond with a lay-up to put his team back up by four, but ENC’s McCoy quickly hit a jumper with 1:59 remaining to get the Lions back within reach. A scoreless 1:23 would pass before Max Barbosa tied the game at 64-64 with :36 on the clock. Curry would have a chance to win in regulation with three seconds to play, but sophomore Brian Boyajian’s shot would not fall and five more minutes were placed on the scoreboard.

In overtime, the Lions would score just three points, and were forced to foul down the stretch. Nine of the Colonels 14 overtime points came from the free-throw line.

Both teams shot well in the contest, but the Colonel’s impressive 46.2 percent from the field edged the Lion’s 40.6 percent. Curry also got major production from the bench, with their 36 points from reserves the Lion’s 22 bench points. ENC out-rebounded Curry 42-39, and also held a slight advantage in assists (15-13). 

With the win, the Colonels improve to 6-8 on the season and 4-3 in CCC play. The Lions drop to 3-12 overall and 2-6 in conference with the loss.

The Colonels had a well-rounded offensive night, with six players scoring in double figures. Boyajian led CC with 14 points and Veilleux was a bucket behind him with 12 on the night. Curry junior Sedale Jones and Papalambros contributed 11 apiece, with Lambros also dishing out a team-high four assists. Senior Michael Connery and sophomore Abel Ribeiro each  tallied 10 points in the win.

Ezeigbo was the game’s leading scorer with 16 points. In 39 minutes of action, the junior also contributed seven rebounds, three assists and two steals. Classmate McCoy tallied 14 points, six boards, four assists and two steals. Senior CJ Gonzales grabbed a game-high ten rebounds and sophomore Brian Hard put up seven points and secured seven off the glass. Aaron Johnson rounded out the group, chipping in eleven points.

Eastern Nazarene heads to Endicott on Saturday to face the Gulls at 1:00p.m. Curry returns home to face Wentworth in a 3:00p.m. match-up the same day. (Recap courtesy of ENC Sports Information)