Box Score BIDDEFORD, Maine (Feb. 19) -- Nichols College scored eight unanswered points with under four minutes remaining to turn around a two-point deficit and then held on for an 80-76 The Commonwealth Coast Conference men's basketball victory over the University of New England in the regular-season finale for both teams Saturday afternoon at the Campus Center.

Trailing by two (69-67) following a UNE free throw with 3:53 to go, the Bison scored the next eight to take a 75-69 lead with 1:37 left on the clock. Big Blue senior Franco Foti nailed a trey at the 1:18 mark to make it a three-point contest, but Nichols canned five of six from the charity stripe the rest of the way to seal the win.

First-year Ryan Sheehan (North Attleboro, Mass.) poured in a game-high 30 points to pace the visitors, hitting 6-of-11 from deep and converting all but one of his 11 free throws. He also pulled down a match-best seven rebounds.

Nichols received 14 points from sophomore Justin Kuntz (Wallingford, Conn.), while classmate Kyle Mascilak (Sparta, N.J.) and junior Michael Salis (Nashua, N.H.) each contributed 11. As a team, the Bison (7-17, 4-9 TCCC) outrebounded their opponent, 38-28.

For the Nor'easters (4-21, 2-11 TCCC), junior Marcus Winn and first-year Charles Fenner combined for 37 points (20 and 17, respectively), which included seven makes from long range and a perfect 12-of-12 on freebies.

Junior Ryan Knotek was limited to just 17 minutes with foul trouble, but finished with 11 points on 5-of-6 shooting.

The contest was close throughout, featuring six lead-changes and 10 ties. Nichols built a cushion of as many as nine in the latter stages of the opening half, before settling on a six-point margin (42-36) at the break. The Bison shot 50 percent (15-for-30) in the frame, and drained seven three-pointers.

The lead peaked at 11 (47-36) moments into the second half on a shot from long distance by Sheehan, only to see UNE respond 17 straight points to assume a 53-47 edge. Winn had dropped in 10 points during the stretch that concluded at the 12:40 mark.

Nichols managed to pull back even (60-60) with 8:44 to play, and the ensuing four minutes saw neither team gain an advantage of more than two points, setting up the deciding run by the Bison.

Story courtesy University of New England Sports Information

Box Score