Box Score BOSTON, Mass. (Nov. 26) -- Senior guard Brian Ford led all scorers with 14 points and pulled down six rebounds to help Trinity College defeat Nichols College, 63-47, in the opening game of the 26th Annual UMass Boston Harbor Invitational this afternoon at the Clark Athletic Center on the campus of UMass Boston. With the decision, the Bantams improve their record to 3-1, while the Bison fall to 1-4.

Trinity opened the game with an 8-0 lead on hot shooting from senior forward Jared Pimm. Nichols cut the lead to four at 8-4, but the Bantams would extend their lead to 13-6 with nine minutes left in the stanza before quickly increasing the lead again to 23-6, with a 10-0 run. A single free throw by Nichols' sophomore guard Justin Kuntz (Wallingford, Conn.) at 6:56 snapped the scoreless streak but the Bison didn't get another field goal until 5:39 left in the session which ended a 7:05 scoreless drought.

After a small Nichols' run closed the gap 27-14, the Bantams opened up their biggest lead at the end of the half, 35-14, which sophomore guard Cameron Sutton capped off with a free throw with less than a second on the clock to give Trinity a commanding advantage entering the locker room.

The Bison started the second half strong, cutting into the lead with constant backcourt pressure. A three-point field goal by junior forward Nick Brown (North Reading, Mass.) with 11:44 to play in the second half pulled Nichols to within single digits, cutting the Bantams lead to 43-34, but Trinity immediately responded on an 8-0 run over the next 1:24 minutes of action, capped by a layup by senior forward Luke MacDougall to give the home squad a comfortable 51-34 margin with 10:19 to play.

Nichols would cut the Bantams lead to 13 points following a good free throw by sophomore guard Steve Galgano (Ansonia, Conn.) with 3:15 remaining in the stanza but Trinity would hold the Bison scoreless from that point on to secure the 63-47 victory.

For Trinity, junior center Chris Applegate scored nine points, and added nine rebounds and three steals in just 20 minutes of action, while MacDougall was the only other Bantam in double figures with 12 points.

Nichols was paced offensively by sophomore forward Kyle Mascilak's (Sparta, N.J.) 12 points while Galgano chipped in with an eight point effort.

Nichols will face the host Beacons in the consolation game Saturday at 1:00 p.m. Framingham State defeated UMass Boston, 76-60, in the opening round.


Story courtesy UMass Boston Sports Information

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