Box Score

DUDLEY, Mass. – Junior Ryan Sheehan (North Attleboro, Mass.) scored a game-high 26 points and freshman Gustave Koumare (Harlem, N.Y.) notched 11 points and four assists as the Nichols College men's basketball team defeated Endicott College 87-85 in Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) action Thursday night at the Nichols Athletic Center.

Sophomore Jessy Michaud (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) added nine points, six rebounds, three steals and two assists as the Bison (12-8, 7-6 CCC) picked up their third win in their last four outings and climbed above the .500 mark in the conference. The Bison knocked down 49 percent of their field goal attempts and turned the ball over just 13 times.

Sophomore John Henault (Lunenburg, Mass.) led six Endicott student-athletes in double-figures with 18 points while both junior Lachlan Magee (Melbourne, Australia) and sophomore Andre Makris (Southbury, Conn.) netted 15 points. After shooting 54 percent in the opening stanza, the Gulls were held to 39 percent in the second half but hung around all evening thanks to their efficient free throw shooting, making 22 of their 28 attempts (78.6 pct.).

The first half featured eight lead changes. Nichols opened up a seven-point advantage at 15-8 following a triple by Koumare at 14:19, only to see the Gulls score the next eight points to tie the game at 15. The visitors then built a four-point lead after freshman Nick Mazzotta (North Granby, Conn.) knocked down a three of his own midway through the half.

Late in the first half, senior Kyle Mascilak (Sparta, N.J.) converted a three-point play to give Nichols the lead for good at 35-34. The Bison led by four at halftime (46-42) behind 19 from Sheehan and nine from Koumare. Magee led Endicott with 11.

In the second half, the Gulls cut their deficit to one point once and two points on two occasions through the first seven minutes of the half, but could not tie the game. Nichols extended its lead to 11 points at the 9:14 mark on a three by sophomore Marlon Bennett (Stratford, Conn.) and never saw its lead slip below four points until the final minute of the contest.

Trailing 84-79 with 30 seconds on the clock, junior Bennett Knowlton (Shrewsbury, Mass.) rattled home a three to bring the Gulls to within two points. After Sheehan was fouled and made one of two from the line, Knowlton's layup attempt was blocked by Mascilak. Koumare grabbed the rebound and sank two free throws at the other end with four seconds left to push his team's lead to five. Henault's three as time expired accounted for the final score.

“I told our guys that we weren't going to score 130 points tonight,” said Nichols first-year head coach Jeff Lindgren, referencing the team's last meeting when the Bison broke the school-record for points. “We knew we would need to get more stops that we did on that particular evening, and we held them to under 40 percent shooting in the second half. We turned them over 17 times, so we did a very nice job. That's a very good basketball team that we defeated tonight.”

Senior Craig Merrick (Ledyard, Conn.) and junior Sam Horning (Falmouth, Maine) each added seven points off the bench for Nichols while junior Joe Gallant (Salem, N.H.) racked up three blocks. Knowlton finished with 12 points, Makris tallied a team-high eight rebounds, and Magee handed out four dimes.  

The Bison head to Boston on Saturday for a 3 p.m. contest at Wentworth. Endicott plays at Western New England at 3 p.m.