MBB Picks Up First Win at Eastern Nazarene
QUINCY, Mass. - The Mitchell College men's basketball team picked
up its first victory of the season on Friday night in the first
round of the ENC Classic Tournament. The Mariners defeated host
Eastern Nazarene College by an 82-63 final at the Lahue PE
Center.
Mitchell (1-4 overall) will advance to Saturday's championship game
against Mt. Ida College, which scored an 81-71 victory over New
England College. Tip-off is scheduled for 4 p.m.
Mitchell finished with four players in double figures against the
Lions. Junior Tyler
Blier led the Mariners with a career-high 17 points on 7-of-10
shooting from the floor. Senior Eric Murray finished
with 15 points and five rebounds while classmate Mike DePaolo and
junior Drew
Norris chipped in with 14 points apiece.
The Mariners scored the game's first four points and never trailed.
The lead quickly ballooned to 15 behind a 14-1 run during which
five different players scored for Mitchell. Norris drilled a
three-pointer to cap the stretch and gave the Mariners an 18-3 lead
with 12:39 remaining in the first half.
Mitchell led by as many as 23 points in the first half, though a
surge by the Lions cut the margin to 40-28 at intermission. Eastern
Nazarene trimmed the deficit to single digits in the second stanza
but never got closer than seven points. The Mariners pumped the
lead back to double digits on another jumper by Norris and never
looked back, coasting to a comfortable 19-point victory.
The Mariners shot a season-high 56 percent for the contest and went
5-for-11 from beyond the arc. Mitchell also controlled the glass by
a 43-27 margin. Norris led the rebounding charge with a game-high
nine boards, one of four Mitchell players with five or more
rebounds.
Michael McCoy led Eastern Nazarene (0-7 overall) with 17 points.
The Lions shot 42 percent from the floor but just 24 percent from
three and 38 percent from the charity stripe.
