Box Score

DUDLEY, Mass. – Junior Ryan Sheehan (North Attleboro, Mass.) and sophomore Matt Langadas (Casco, Maine) each scored 13 points in Nichols College's 70-59 loss to Wentworth Institute of Technology in Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) action Saturday afternoon at the Nichols Athletic Center.

Senior Colin Johnson (El Dorado Hills, Calif.) came off the bench to score a career-high 21 points for the Leopards (7-4, 3-1 CCC), who rattled in 50 percent of their shots and outrebounded the Bison 39-28. Senior Corey Therriault (Auburn, Maine) netted 12 points to go along with six rebounds and four assists for WIT, and now sits 14 points shy of 1,000 for his career.

For Nichols, junior Joe Gallant (Salem, N.H.) registered seven rebounds and three blocks to go along with four points and an assists in 22 minutes of action. Senior Craig Merrick (Ledyard, Conn.) knocked down a pair of three's while classmate Kyle Mascilak (Sparta, N.J.) went for six points and four rebounds.

The Leopards led for all but 2:48 of the first half yet found themselves behind 26-25 entering the locker room. Behind five points from both senior Derek Mayo (Casco, Maine) and sophomore Nico Donato (Glastonbury, Conn.), Wentworth opened up a 21-14 with 6:17 left in the stanza. Nichols closed the half on a 12-4 run, tying the game on a layup by Sheehan before Merrick knocked down a triple at 1:03 to put it ahead. Johnson and Langadas led their respective teams with seven points apiece. Sheehan – who entered the game as the No. 3 scorer in the nation – was held to four points on 2-of-3 shooting.

Early in the second half, the Bison led by four points on two occasions, the last coming at 17:26. Senior Matt Harte (Troy, N.Y.) tied the game at 40 with a layup at 14:17, then put the Leopards ahead for good with another layup less than a minute later. A basket by Johnson stretched the WIT lead to eight with 8:32 on the clock, and his three-pointer with 6:08 remaining pushed the lead to 59-48.

Nichols answered with seven-straight points to cut its deficit to four behind a layup by Sheehan, a triple by freshman Christian Horton (Rutland, Mass.) and a layup by Gallant. Therriault responded with a three to push the Leopards lead back to seven, and subsequent buckets by Harte and Therriault gave the visitors a 66-55 lead with 1:38 left.

Harte, Donato and sophomore John-Michael Fragnoli (Scotia, N.Y.) each finished with eight points while Mayo recorded five assists and four rebounds. Wentworth connected on nearly 50 percent of its attempts from behind the arc (7-of-15) compared to just 30 percent for the Bison (6-of-20).

The Bison return to action on Tuesday with a 7:00 p.m. contest at Endicott. Wentworth heads west to Springfield on Tuesday for a 5:30 p.m. game at Western New England.