Box Score

DUDLEY, Mass. – Senior captain Ryan Sheehan (North Attleboro, Mass.) scored 24 of his game-high 25 points in the first half as the Nichols College men's basketball team won their program-record 18th game of the season with a 90-63 win over UNE on Senior Day Saturday afternoon in Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) action at the Nichols Athletic Center.

Fellow senior Sam Horning (Falmouth, Maine) added 12 points and three steals for the Bison (18-5, 14-2 CCC), who broke the previous record of 17 wins set by the 2003-04 team. Sophomore Christian Horton (Rutland, Mass.) added 11 points, three assists and two steals while junior Joe Gallant (Salem, N.H.) filled the stat sheet with six points, five assists and three rebounds.

Freshman Brayden Morse (Long Beach, Calif.) led the Nor'easters (1-22, 1-15 CCC) with 14 points and seven rebounds. Classmate Tom Nason (Milton, N.H.) and sophomore Russ Daly (Voorheesville, N.Y.) each chipped in with nine points for UNE.

Sheehan scored 20 of the Bison's first 22 points as they raced out to a 22-14 lead. He finished the half 9-of-13 from the field – including 4-of-7 from long range – in just 12 minutes of action. Junior Marlon Bennett (Stratford, Conn.) knocked down three triples and finished the first half with nine points to help the Bison take a 57-32 lead to the locker room. Morse paced the Nor'easters with 10 points and seven boards in 18 minutes.

Nichols led by as many as 23 in the second half when Horning sank his second three-point field goal of the afternoon, and the Nor'easters did not get to within more than 27 points down the stretch.

"I told our team that today was all about Ryan and Sam," said Nichols head coach Jeff Lindgren. "Our team was so high on emotion and wanted to play well for those guys. I don't know if anyone would have been able to come in here today and beat us. The program win record is nice, but we need to win the rest of our games and then win the conference tournament."

The Nor'easters outrebounded the Bison 35-28 and shot 41 percent from the field, but Nichols was red hot all afternoon, draining 57 percent of its shots (29-of-51) and 50 percent of its three-point attempts (17-of-34). The Bison also outscored the Nor'easters 16-0 on the fast break.

The Bison head to Eastern Nazarene on Tuesday for a 5 p.m. contest. The Nor'easters travel to Curry Tuesday for a 7:30 p.m. contest.