Men’s Basketball’s Season Ends on Senior Day

BEVERLY, Mass. – The Endicott men's basketball season ended on Saturday afternoon with a 72-58 loss to Eastern Nazarene, as did the career of point guard Lance Greene (Dorchester, Mass.), who played his final game in an Endicott uniform.

Greene had 11 points, six steals and four assists in his final game, putting the finishing touches on a career in which he became the ninth player in Endicott men's basketball history to score 1,000 points. Greene finishes his career as the all-time Endicott leader in free-throws made, second in steals and third in scoring. He is also in the top-ten all-time in assists and rebounding for the Gulls and averaged over 14 points a game over his career.

With the defeat, the Gulls finish their season with a 9-16 record, and a 4-14 mark in the Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC), where they had already been eliminated from postseason play.

The Lions will be in the CCC tournament, improving to 17-8 on the year and 11-7 against conference teams. Eastern Nazarene was holding the #4 seed in the conference entering play today.

Endicott got 11 points off the bench from Bennett Knowlton (Shrewsbury, Mass.) but allowed their opponents to shoot almost 45% from the field, including 55.6% in the second half, when the visitors took a nine point halftime lead and built it to as many as 27.

ENC Freshman Jaylen Owens (Johns Creek, Ga.) had a double-double, scoring 14 points and passing out 10 assists, while also grabbing four steals. Owens flirted with a triple-double, as he grabbed eight rebounds to help Eastern Nazarene to a 42-36 advantage on the glass.

Senior Chima Ezeigbo (Roanoke, Va.) was also instrumental for the Lions, with a team-high 16 points and eight rebounds himself, as well as four blocks.

Owens hit a three-pointer to open the game and Endicott led just once, 17-16 almost halfway through the first period. Eastern Nazarene began to extend a small lead late in the half and got it to nine points on a jumper by Ezeigbo with two minutes before halftime.

Knowlton answered with a three-pointer but Lions freshman Jeremy Wagner (Oklahoma City, Okla.) was fouled while taking a three himself and hit all of his free-throw shots to bring the lead to 37-28 at the half. Wagner also hit two three-pointers in the game to account for his nine point effort.

The Lions immediately increased their lead to double-digits in the second half on a jumper by Owens, and then used a 19-2 run in the middle of the period to put the game out of reach.

Endicott sophomore Andre Makris (Southbury, Conn.) and junior Lachlan Magee (Melbourne, Australia) each chipped in 9 points, while John Henault (Lunenburg, Mass.) had six points, two assists and three steals and was 2-2 at the free-throw line, keeping him in contention to have the top free-throw percentage in the country. Henault finishes the season shooting 63-67 (94%) from the charity stripe.

Junior Brian Hard (Weymouth, Mass.) was the final Lion in double-figures, scoring ten points on 4-7 shooting off the bench.