The University of Maine at Presque Isle men’s basketball team lost its third consecutive game Saturday, falling to Eastern Nazarene College in Quincy, Massachusetts, on Saturday by a score of 69-60.
It was the first victory for the host Lions after a four-game losing streak to begin the season. UMPI is now 2-3 entering weekend games against UM-Farmington, to be played Friday and Saturday at Wieden Gymnasium on the UMPI campus.
The Owls opened the game quickly, scoring eight of the game’s first 10 points to claim a six-point edge just 2:21 into the contest with that initial spurt spearheaded by a DeAndre Duncombe lay-up and a jumper by Quinn Mitchell. The hosts clawed back to level the score at 11-11 on a layup by Levi Grady-White with 14:28 to go in the first half. Eastern Nazarene seized its first lead of the game with 10:23 to go in the opening frame, 19-18, as Grady-White tossed in a fast-break layup. The Lions would stretch their advantage to five on a bucket by Noah Cheney with 7:49 left to play in the first.
UMPI pulled even at 29-29 on a lay-in by Te’Von Hines with three minutes on the clock and then the Owls tallied the final four points of the first half to grab a 33-30 lead at intermission.
UMPI posted a field-goal percentage of 46.4 percent at the break with a 2-for-10 effort from three-point distance. Eastern Nazarene shot 36.4 percent from the floor in the opening frame and connected on 1-of-9 from beyond the arc.
The Owls scored the first five points of the second stanza to widen the gap to 38-30 just 1:20 into the second half on a Wilburn Griffiths lay-up and a 3-point jumper by Hines on an assist from Duncombe. But the Lions battled back to capture a one-point lead with 10:15 to go in regulation on a steal and score by Christian Garcia, 50-49.
Eastern Nazarene stretched the margin to 54-50 as Ricky Shearman spun in a layup with 6:46 left to play. UMPI reclaimed the lead with five minutes to go on a trey by Duncombe, making it 57-56. The home team then responded with a 7-0 run to establish a 63-57 edge with 2:37 left on the clock.
After the Owls cut the deficit to 63-60 with a three-pointer by Griffin Guerrette, the Lions netted the final six points of the contest as Garrett Crandell banked in a layup before Josh Rice and Crandell each converted a pair of attempts from the charity stripe to seal the win.
The Owls shot 41.5 percent from the floor on the day and 26.1 percent from beyond the 3-point arc. The Lions concluded the contest with a field-goal percentage of 40.3 percent to go with 23.1 percent from three-point land.
Duncombe scored a game-high 18 points to lead the Owls, while Hines added 16 points. Garrett Crandell tallied 17 points to lead the home team while adding five boards. David Lopez hauled in a game-high 11 rebounds and scored eight points.Grady-White and Ricky Shearman each chipped in with eight points.
