DUDLEY, Mass. – Junior guard Bryan Riley (West Boylston, Mass.) scored a team-high 16 points, including seven in the final three minutes of the game, to lead Nichols College to a 70-68 victory over visiting Colby-Sawyer College in The Commonwealth Coast Conference action Saturday afternoon. The win brings Nichols to 8-9 overall and 3-2 in TCCC play, and snaps a five-game win streak for the Chargers, who dip to 11-4 overall and 4-1 in league action.

Besides Riley, who added four steals and five assists, three other players scored in double digits for the Bison. Junior forward Ryan Wilcox (West Granby, Conn.) netted 15 to go with a team-high nine rebounds, junior guard Chris Paquin (Barre, Mass.) chipped in 13 points and eight boards, and first-year forward Pete Atkins (Gainesville, Fla.) had 10 points off the bench.

Leading the way for Colby Sawyer was forward Duncan Szeliga, who put up a game-high 23 points and a team-high nine rebounds. Junior guard David Rosso added 14 bench points, and junior forward Jon Chaloux chipped in with 10 points, six rebounds and a pair of steals.

The first half saw five lead changes as each team struggled to get their offenses going. Nichols went on a 7-0 run early in the half, but Colby-Sawyer was able to close the gap and take the lead with a 10-2 run. The first half ended with the Chargers on top, 31-29.

The Bison came out firing early in the second half with Paquin hitting a three to give them a lead. The Chargers would soon put out the fire, though, as they shut down Nichols with their defense and used a 9-2 run to push their lead to 50-40.

After being held scoreless for over three minutes, however, the Bison put up eight unanswered points in two-and-a-half minutes to bring them back within two. Senior captain Jeff Lindgren (Sturbridge, Mass.) scored five points in the span, finishing with eight points on the night.

The score held tight as the game neared the end. With Nichols down by three with 3:06 on the clock, Riley stole the ball hit a fast break layup, getting fouled in the process. Another foul and a technical gave Riley four shots at the line with his team down by one. The junior sank three of the four shots to give Nichols a 66-64 lead. 

The Chargers tied it up again with two free throws from Chris Cox with 2:31 left to play, but Nichols took the lead for good with two good free throw shots and another Riley steal and layup for a four-point lead. Szeliga hit a jumper at the buzzer from just inside the arc, finishing the game in the Bison's favor, 70-68.

Nichols held a 10-16 advantage in turnovers, capitalizing with 23 points off the Chargers' miscues.

Nichols is back in action Thursday at 5:30 p.m. at Western New England College, while Colby Sawyer takes a break from TCCC play with a 7 p.m. home game against Lesley College Tuesday. 

Box Score