Box Score DUDLEY, Mass. (Dec. 11) – Nichols College overcame a seven-point first-half deficit and rallied for a 63-61 victory over Clark University Saturday afternoon in non-conference men's basketball action. The win marks the first for the Bison over the Cougars since 1994, and moves Nichols to 3-7 on the season. Clark dips to 4-6 overall.

First year forward Ryan Sheehan (North Attleboro, Mass.) scored 27 points for the Bison and dished out three second-half assists, all to sophomore Justin Kuntz (Wallingford, Conn.), who added 15 points on the night, 11 coming in the second half.

Junior forward Brian Vayda recorded a double-double for the Cougars with 19 points and a game-high 13 rebounds, netting 10 points at the charity stripe on 10-of-14 shooting. Mitch Renshaw added 10 points.

The Cougars strode out to a 10-3 lead seven minutes into the game, holding the Bison to points only at the free-throw line until Kuntz hit a driving layup to cut the Cougars' lead in half at 12:52. Kyle Mascilak (Sparta, N.J.) brought Nichols within three with a layup before the visitors ran on a 13-2 run capped by a pair of free throws from Jonathan Phillips to hold a 23-9 advantage with 6:24 left in the half.

Nichols chipped away at the lead late and used a buzzer-beating three-pointer from Sheehan off a back-door feed from Justin Aldrich (Douglas, Mass.) to bring the game within seven, 30-23, headed into halftime. Aldrich finished the afternoon with a game-high four assists to go with two points and four rebounds.

The Bison scored the first five points of the second half, taking their first lead of the day on a Sheehan three-pointer – one of five on the day – just past the two-minute mark. The Bison held through two ties to keep the lead until Drew Billington hit a pair of free throws at 10:24 to bring Clark to a 43-42 advantage. A Tom Desautels layup edged the Cougars ahead by three, but another Sheehan three erased the deficit.
Vayda ran the Cougars ahead by four with a bucket and a pair of free throws, but Nichols answered back with a Sheehan jumper and the Cougars were whistled for a foul under the hoop right after the bucket, sending Mascilak to the line to tie it up at 49-all with 5:56 remaining.

Nichols maintained a two-possession lead until Vayda nailed a three-pointer with 20 seconds left to cut the Bison's lead to two at 61-59, but Sheehan converted two at the charity stripe to make it 63-59 Bison three seconds later.

On the next possession, Vayda missed a three-pointer but followed up to snag the rebound, getting fouled in the process and finding his way to the line with 1.8 seconds left on the clock. He made both, but the long Nichols inbound pass found its way to Mascilak who ran out the clock.

The Bison held a 26-14 lead in points in the paint amidst a 41-23 rebounding advantage, but surrendered 26 points to free throws, seeing the Cougars shoot 74.3% (26-35) from the line in the game.

Nichols is off until the New Year, opening 2011 with a 6:30 p.m. home game against Fitchburg State on January 5. Clark is idle until December 29 when the Cougars take on Penn State-Behrend in the opening round of the Woodcliff Hotel and Spa Invitational hosted by St. John Fisher.

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