Box Score DUDLEY, Mass. – Led by a game-high 19 points from junior forward Mark Alexander, the Clark University men's basketball team defeated Nichols, 77-70, Saturday afternoon. Alexander led four Cougars in double digits, including freshman forward Brian Vayda, who paced Clark with eight rebounds to go with 10 points.
First-year forward Pete Atkins (Gainesville, Fla.) led the Bison with 15 points off the bench, adding a team-high seven rebounds. Junior forward Ryan Wilcox (West Granby, Conn.) also picked up seven caroms, while junior guard Bryan Riley (West Boylston, Mass.) added 11 points and four assists off the bench. Justin Aldrich (Douglas, Mass.) chipped in with a season-high matching 10 points.
Peter Normandin added 11 points for the Cougars while Jonathan Phillips chipped in with 10 off the bench on 4-for-5 shooting.
Clark (5-4) jumped out to an early lead and commanded the game with a nine-point advantage after a three-pointer from Jack Minister at the 14:29 mark. Nichols chipped away at the lead, climbing to within two after an 8-1 rally capped by a Riley layup two minutes later.
The Cougars extended their lead to seven before the Bison came back again, this time to take the lead at 30-29 after a Wilcox layup at 7:29. Chris Paquin (Barre, Mass.) put Nichols up two with a layup, but Clark stormed back to hold a six-point halftime lead after closing out the stanza with a 14-5 run.
Clark extended its lead to a game-high 13 midway through the second half, when Alexander put the Cougars up 60-42 with a layup after capitalizing on a Nichols turnover. The Bison were able to cut the lead down to six, on an Atkins free throw as time was waning, but Minister sank a shot from the line for the final 77-70 score.
Nichols found its points down low, holding a 50-28 advantage in points in the paint, and led by Atkins, received 43 points from its bench, compared to 22 from Clark's bench. The Cougars, however, maintained a 24-28 advantage in turnovers, converting them into 22 points to Nichols' 19.
The Bison are idle until late December when they travel to the Salem State Christmas Tournament. Nichols will face Williams on December 29th at 3 p.m. and then will take on Denison the following afternoon at 3 p.m. Clark is idle until the New Year, when the Cougars travel to the Catholic University Tournament on January 3 and 4.
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