Quincy, Mass. - The SUNY Poly men's defeated Eastern Nazarene on Friday night 72-57 in a North Atlantic Conference contest. Cheickne Toure led all scorers with 25 points, while Anthony Rose chipped in 22 points. With the win, the Wildcats move to 7-7 on the season, and 3-1 in NAC play. The Lions move to 4-10 on the season, and 1-5 in NAC play.
HOW IT HAPPENED: After the Wildcats took a 10-5 lead to start the game, the Lions would control the majority of the first half, answering back with a run themselves to take a 20-15 lead. Javier Osowski-Freire would have a strong first half, scoring 9 points, all on three-point shots. Cheickne Toure would score a team-high 12 points in the first half, including connecting on two triples. The Lions would end the half on a 10-4 run to take a 38-30 lead into halftime.
LJ Randle would help cut the halftime deficit for the Wildcats, knocking down an early three-pointer and adding in a layup to help cut the Lions' lead. Randle would score 9 second-half points to help himself finish with 12 points for the game. Two Toure free-throws with 9:55 to play would give the Wildcats their first lead of the half, 52-50. The Wildcats would begin to pull away around the four-minute mark when Toure and Rose would connect for multiple baskets, and the Wildcats were able to get key defensive stops. The Wildcats would make free-throws at the end of the game to keep the score out of reach, and would hang on for the 72-57 victory. The Wildcats currently sit in second place in the NAC West Division with a 3-1 conference record.
UP NEXT: The Wildcats will be back in action on Tuesday, January 9th, as they travel to SUNY Cobleskill for a NAC contest. The game is scheduled to start at 5:30 PM.