Box Score
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DUDLEY, Mass. – Senior Ryan Sheehan (North Attleboro, Mass.)­ became Nichole College's all-time leading scorer in a 73-54 win over Western New England University in the Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) Men's Basketball Quarterfinal round Tuesday night before 631 fans at the Nichols Athletic Center.

Sheehan – who was named both CCC Player of the Year and Senior Scholar-Athlete of the Year earlier in the day – finished the evening with 18 points and eclipsed Billy Collins' career point total of 2,014 with a layup at 6:29 of the first half. Sophomore Irving Eggleston (East Lyme, Conn.) added 17 points – including three 3-pointers – while classmate Jalen Hurst (Hartford, Conn.) chipped in with 11 points.

With the win, the top-seeded Bison (21-5) advance to the CCC Semifinals for the second time in three years and first time under second-year head coach Jeff Lindgren, who was named CCC Coach of the Year today. Nichols will host the No. 4 Salve Regina Thursday night at 7 p.m.

Junior Musa Elsir (West Springfield, Mass.) led the No. 8 seed Golden Bears with 13 points to go along with six rebounds. Senior Dennis Rinaldi (Southington, Conn.) recorded a double-double with 12 points and 11 boards as the Golden Bears committed 22 turnovers which results in 23 Bison points.

Nichols opened up an eight-point lead at 9:41 of the first half behind eight points from Eggleston – including a pair of triples – and later converted back-to-back layups to help the Bison build a 14-point lead with 3:19 to go. Sophomore Gustave Koumare (Harlem, N.Y.) closed the half with a layup to send the Bison to the locker room with a 38-28 lead. Eggleston led all scorers with 12 points on 5-of-6 shooting while Sheehan went for eight points. Elsir netted seven to lead all WNE student-athletes.

After the Bison opened the second half with four-straight points to go back up by 14, the Golden Bears cut their deficit in half behind seven points from senior Ryan Mickiewicz (East Longmeadow, Mass.). Eggleston's third triple of the night at 12:49 put the Bison up double-digits, which they led by the rest of the way. Sophomore Christian Horton (Rutland, Mass.) pushed the Nichols lead to 17 with a layup at 9:12, and then a three from Sheehan with 6:08 on the clock gave the Bison a 66-48 lead.  

"I want to thank the crowd for coming out. The fans, the staff, the faculty, President Engelkemeyer – they gave us such a boost," said Lindgren. "That really got us over the top. We didn't play great, but we're moving on the semifinals, and that's all that matters. As far as Ryan, he came into the locker room at halftime and said, 'That was like a 2,014 pound weight off my back.' It was such a relief for everyone that it happened tonight, and now we can turn our sole focus to winning a conference championship."

Koumare filled the stat sheet with seven points, eight rebounds, four assists and one steal in 19 minutes. Mickiewicz, meanwhile, tallied 11 points and five rebounds in his final game at WNE.

Nichols shot 39 percent from the floor (27-of-69) and made just 29 percent of three three-point attempts (10-of-34). The Golden Bears sank 38 percent of their shots (18-of-48) and made 79 percent of their free throws (15-of-19). The Bison saw their bench score 32 points.

Western New England closes its season 7-18.