CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Eastern Nazarene College took and early lead and never relinquished it, scoring a 61-51 victory over MIT in a non-conference men's basketball game this afternoon. The Lions helped their cause by scoring 18 points off of 11 turnovers by the Engineers. Senior Jaylen Owens (Johns Creek, Ga.) led Eastern Nazarene with 19 points while junior Tim Butala (Monroe, Conn.) led MIT with a double-double of 17 points and a career-best 16 rebounds. 

A three-point shot by senior Justin Pedley (Kennewick, Wash.) and a bucket by Butala had MIT (2-1) up early, giving the Engineers an 11-8 lead three and a half minutes in. MIT then missed its next eight shots from the field; all but one from long range, and Eastern Nazarene (3-0) took advantage with a 10-0 run. Senior Lequan Gomes (Fairfield, Calif.) scored five of the points and when junior Christian Lynch (Alpharetta, Ga.) hit a pair of free throws midway through the half the Lions had surged in front, 18-11.

Eastern Nazarene held on to its advantage and still led by eight with 2:55 left when senior Ryan Frankel (New York, N.Y.) hit a layup that started a quick 6-0 run that cut the deficit back to two points on a Pedley layup. Owens answered for the Lions with a jumper and the score stood at 29-25 at the half.

Three turnovers to start the second half by MIT turned into six points on the other end for Eastern Nazarene, giving the Lions their largest lead at 35-25 on a Gomes layup. MIT could only get as close as seven points over the first 10 minutes of the half, doing it twice, with the second coming with 10:55 showing when Butala hit one of two free throw attempts. Eastern Nazarene answered with six straight, taking 49-36 lead with 6:58 to go on a jumper from senior Jeremy Wagner (Oklahoma City, Okla.). 

MIT then put together its best stretch of the afternoon, getting a trey from Butala that started a 13-4 surge over a four-minute span. Freshman Adam Jurko (Weston, Fla.) added another three in the run that had the Engineers within four at 53-49 when Butala scored on a layup with 1:58 left. That was the last field goal that MIT would get, however, as Eastern Nazarene went on to hit 6-of-9 free throws in the final minute and a half to take the win.

Gomes also reached double figures for Eastern Nazarene, finishing with 16 points and a team best eight rebounds. Pedley added 10 points for MIT, which held a 43-33 advantage on the boards. The Lions out shot the Engineers by a 40.7 to 35.8 percent margin.

MIT will play its first game on the road this season in its next action, taking the short trip to Tufts University on Tuesday, November 24 for a 7:00 p.m. game. Eastern Nazarene will also play next Tuesday, hosting Lesley University at 7:00 p.m.