Box Score HENNIKER, N.H. (Jan. 15) – New England College men's basketball forward Joe Faragher finished with a team-high 21 points and eight rebound leading the Pilgrims past the visiting Nichols College Bison 77-61 Saturday afternoon.

With the win the Pilgrims improve to 12-2 overall and 2-1 in the TCCC. The loss drops the Bison to 3-10 on the season and 0-3 in conference play.

NEC would open the game on a 13-5 run and build their lead to as many as 12 with just over seven minutes remaining in the opening half. Nichols would respond using a 13-5 run of their own to cut the NEC lead to just 24-21 at the 4:45 mark. The Pilgrim offense would regain their lead late thanks to an 8-0 run and sophomore Abdirahman Mohamed would bank in a three-pointer as time expired giving NEC the 42-28 halftime lead.

The Bison offense would chip away throughout the opening minutes of the second half trailing just 49-53 with nine minutes remaining in regulation. Again, the NEC offense would respond using a 13-0 run to build their largest lead of the afternoon up 17 with 4:39 on the clock. Nichols would get within eight but NEC would close out the final minute 6-for-8 from the foul line to solidify the 77-61 victory.

NEC's Shane Hennessey finished with a double-double scoring 10 points and grabbing 10 rebounds. Jason Minerve finished with 12 points and Abdirahman Mohamed chipped in 10 points for the Pilgrims.

Leading the way for Nichols College was Ryan Sheehan (North Attleboro, Mass.) who drained six three-pointers and finished with a game-high 22 points. Nichols' Justin Kuntz (Wallingford, Conn.) was the only other Bison in double-figures finishing with 19 points. Michael Salis (Nashua, N.H.) was the leading rebounder for Nichols finishing with four.

NEC returns to action on Tuesday, Jan. 18 when they travel to take on non-conference opponent Albany College of Pharmacy.. Nichols will hit the court on Wednesday, Jan. 19 when they host conference foe Salve Regina University.

Story courtesy NEC Sports Information

Box Score