Box Score

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Senior captain Ryan Sheehan (North Attleboro, Mass.) scored 27 points in Nichols College's 87-83 loss to Lasell in the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Men's Basketball Semifinals Saturday afternoon at Johnson & Wales (RI) University.

Sophomore Gustave Koumare (Harlem, N.Y.) tallied 14 points and senior Sam Horning (Falmouth, Maine) added 12 as the Bison close their season with a school-record 23 wins against seven losses.

Nichols was outrebounded 50-31, shot 45 percent from the field, and drained 11 of its 23 three-point attempts (48 percent). Lasell (18-11), meanwhile, canned 44 percent of its shots and was led by sophomore Clyde Niba (Atlanta, Ga.), who scored 35 points and snared 13 rebounds while playing all 40 minutes. Senior Sonny Mello (Fall River, Mass.) also had a double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds.

Nichols jumped out to an early 11-3 lead after a layup by Sheehan with 15:16 left in the first half. Lasell responded and took a 16-15 lead on a layup by Niba with 10:35 remaining in the stanza. With the game tied at 31with just over five minutes remaining, Nichols used an 8-0 run, capped by a layup from freshman Taylor Sarette (Keene, N.H.) with 3:47 left, to make the score 39-31. Lasell closed out the half with a 10-3 run of its own as Nichols took a 42-41 into the locker room at halftime.

The two teams traded leads throughout the second half and found the score tied for the eighth time at 77 with 2:33 remaining. Lasell then used a 6-2 run, capped by a layup from junior Mike Vallone (Wallingford, Conn.), to take the 83-79 lead with 50 seconds on the clock. Nichols trailed 86-83 with 10 second left and let go of a three-point attempt with time running out. The shot was just off target, however, and a free throw by Niba with less than one second remaining sealed the 87-83 victory for Lasell.

Contributions from Johnson & Wales (RI) sports information