BIDDEFORD — The University of New England women’s basketball team opened the second half with an 11-0 run on its way to a 70-60 victory over Eastern Nazarene College in a Commonwealth Coast Conference opener Wednesday evening at the Harold Alfond Forum.
The Nor’easters (4-1, 1-0 CCC), ranked 20th in the most recent D3Hoops.com national poll, earned their 13th consecutive win over the Lions (0-6, 0-1). UNE has yet to be defeated in conference play at the Alfond Forum (25-0) since it opened in 2012 and has now won 35-consecutive CCC regular-season contests on its home court.
Alanna Vose scored 13 of her team-high 17 points after halftime to pace the Nor’easters. She was 5-for-9 from the floor (3 of 6 from beyond the arc) and 4-for-4 at the free throw line. Kelly Coleman contributed 15 points ”“ 11 in the second half ”“ to go with seven rebounds and three steals. Alicia Brown scored 11 points on 5-for-6 shooting, and Meghan Gribbin chipped in 10 points.
Mhiah Vickers poured in a game-high 27 points to lead the Lions. She added seven rebounds, four assists and three steals. Nicole Greer scored 12 points and grabbed seven boards.
After the two teams played to a 26-26 tie in the first half, UNE reeled off 11-consecutive points over the initial 2:54 of the second frame to grab the lead for good. Coleman tallied six points during the run, which culminated with a Brooke Flaherty layup to give Big Blue a 37-26 cushion.
Eastern Nazarene got as close as five (61-56) with 5:22 on the clock, but the Nor’easters would score the next five points to get the lead back up to double digits.
Trailing 17-7 midway through the first half, the Lions utilized a 19-5 spurt to take a four-point (26-22) lead with 3:28 in the frame, before failing to score the rest of the way. Gribbin had a layup and pair of free throws to tie the score at 26 heading into intermission.
Men’s Basketball
EASTERN NAZARENE 78, UNE 67
BIDDEFORD — Eastern Nazarene College converted 51.6 percent (32 of 62) of its field goals and never trailed, defeating the University of New England men’s basketball team by a 78-67 margin as Commonwealth Coast Conference play began Wednesday evening at the Harold Alfond Forum.
The Lions remain perfect on the season at 8-0, while the Nor’easters slip back to 1-5.
Alex Jarman led ENC with 21 points on 10-of-15 shooting, and pulled down six rebounds. Justin Wagner added 16 points to go with five rebounds.
UNE received a game-high 26 points and four assists from Devin Thompson, who made all seven of his two-point attempts and went 4-of-9 from deep. Jean-Luc Parker contributed nine points, and six others had between four and six points in support. Sam Thomas pulled down a game-high seven rebounds for UNE, which held a 37-34 edge on the glass.
A three-pointer by Thompson had the Lions’ cushion down to one (15-14) at the 12:23 mark of the first half, but a few minutes later an 8-0 spurt by Eastern Nazarene bumped the gap up to 12 (29-17). Christian Lynch tallied six of his eight points during the stretch, which spanned a little more than one minute.
The Nor’easters reduced the deficit to six (38-32) late in the frame on consecutive 3-pointers from Parker and C.J. Autry, but ENC’s Jeremy Wagner knocked down his only triple of the night on the next trip down to make it 41-32 at halftime.
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