PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. – The No. 21-ranked Nichols College men's basketball team travels to No. 16-ranked Plattsburgh State for an NCAA Tournament First Round game on Friday night at Memorial Hall in Plattsburgh, N.Y.
 
LIVE STATS | VIDEO | TWITTER | NCAA TOURNAMENT BRACKET
 
Attending the game?  Tickets are $10 for adults, $5 for children under 18 as well as seniors and students with a valid college ID. Kids that are aged two and under will be admitted for free. The ticket office will open two hours before game time each day.
 
 
HOW THEY GOT HERE
The #21 Bison enter the NCAA Tournament riding an 11-game winning-streak that started on January 24th and includes the program's second-straight Commonwealth Coast Conference Championship. Junior Marcos Echevarria, the 2017-18 CCC Player of the Year, has averaged 24.4 points, 3.7 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 2.3 steals per game during the winning-streak while shooting 45.5% from the floor, 40.3% from beyond the arc, and 93.6% at the free throw line. Sophomore DeAnte Bruton has also been exceptional, averaging 17.9 points, 5.9 rebounds, 3.6 assists, and 2.4 steals per game, and he scored his 1,000th career point in an 89-75 win over Roger Williams in the CCC Semifinals.
 
#16 Plattsburgh State has been one of the hottest teams in the NCAA as they enter Friday night's game riding a 19-game winning streak that started back on December 9, 2017. The Cardinals cruised through their SUNYAC schedule, rolling in the Conference Championship last Saturday with a 93-80 win over SUNY Oneonta. Plattsburgh has six players averaging at least 8.2 points per game led by SUNYAC Player of the Year junior Jonathan Patron's 23.7 points and 10.4 rebounds per game. The team's second-leading scorer, senior Eli Bryant, has appeared in all 25 games this year while making only four starts, but averages 16.3 points and 3.1 assists per game.
 
 
BISON VS. CARDINALS HISTORY
This is the first meeting between the two programs.
 
 
#21 NICHOLS LEADERS (25-3)
#4 Marcos Echevarria (22.2 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 4.8 apg, 2.0 spg, 115 3PTM) – CCC Player of the Year, All-CCC First Team
#1 DeAnte Bruton (18.1 ppg, 5.1 rpg, 3.6 apg, 2.1 spg) – All-CCC First Team
#2 Daequon Antoine (14.6 ppg, 5.6 rpg, 1.6 apg, 1.8 spg, 81 3PTM) – All-CCC Third Team
#3 Tyler Dion (11.5 ppg, 2.2 rpg, 2.4 apg, 43.6% 3FG%, 85.3 FT%)
#13 Jerome Cunningham (10.9 ppg, 9.4 rpg, 2.0 apg, 1.0 spg, 1.2 bpg, 55.9% FG%) – All-CCC Third Team
 
 
#16 PLATTSBURGH STATE LEADERS (22-4)
#5 Jonathan Patron (23.7 ppg, 10.4 rpg, 1.4 apg, 1.1 spg, 56.7 FG%) – SUNYAC Player of the Year, All-SUNYAC First Team
#1 Eli Bryant (16.3 ppg, 2.8 rpg, 3.1 apg, 1.4 spg, 53 3PTM, 84.2% FT%) – All-SUNYAC First Team
#23 Eric Mack (11.2 ppg, 5.6 rpg, 1.0 apg, 2.2 bpg, 41.9% 3FG%)- All-SUNYAC Third Team
#11 Brandon Johnson (8.7 ppg, 2.4 rpg, 2.4 apg, 1.2 spg)
#2 Chris Middleton (8.2 ppg, 5.6 rpg, 1.9 apg)
 
 
NCAA Tournament First & Second Round
Plattsburgh State – Plattsburgh, N.Y.
First Round - Friday, March 2
New Jersey City University vs. Union, 5:30 p.m.
Nichols vs. Plattsburgh State, 7:30 p.m.
 
Second Round – Saturday, March 3
Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2, 7:00 p.m.
 

RISING IN THE RANKS
For the first time in program history, the Bison appeared in the D3Hoops.com Top 25 back on December 11 as the team was ranked #24. Nichols would climb to #21 the following week, but would drop out the week after due to an overtime setback at home. After receiving votes for a few weeks, the Bison burst back into the Top 25 on Feb. 18 at #22, and in last week's poll, the Bison were recognized as the #21 team in the nation.

ECHEVARRIA EARNING HONORS
Junior guard Marcos Echevarria continues to fill up his trophy case as he was named the Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) Player of the Year for the second-straight season two weeks ago. The junior has already been named as one of 10 finalists for the Jostens Trophy, appeared on the Bevo Francis Top 100 Watch List, and earned CoSIDA Academic All-District 1 First Team honors last week.

MARCOS CLIMBING IN THE RECORD BOOKS
Echevarria currently sits at 1,869 career points, the fourth-most points in program history, and he is only 131 points away from becoming the third Bison to eclipse 2,000 career points. Earlier this year, the junior became the all-time leader in three-pointers made (351), while he ranks eighth in field goals made (550), third in free throws made (418), third in assists (357), and second in career steals (167).

BRUTON NETS 1,000
Facing an 11-point deficit in the CCC Semifinals against Roger Williams, sophomore DeAnte Bruton exploded for 25 points en route to a game-high 34 points as the Bison pulled away for an 89-75 victory. In the process, Bruton became the 29th player in program history to surpass the 1,000 point plateau, and he already ranks 25th all-time in scoring with 1,036 points.

ANTOINE STEPPING IN
After appearing in 27 games but only playing 11.4 minutes per appearance, senior Daequon Antoine has stepped into the starting lineup and had an immediate impact, averaging 14.6 points, 5.6 rebounds, 1.6 assists, and 1.8 steals in 31.3 minutes per game. Antoine has been one of the top shooters in the country this year, as he ranks 72nd in threes per game (2.89), 63rd in three-point field goal percentage (41.5%), and 34th in total three-pointers made (81).

DION FROM DEEP
Sophomore Tyler Dion has had a strong second year with the Bison as he is fourth on the team in scoring (11.4 ppg) and three-pointers made (65), while he leads the team in three-point field goal percentage (43.6%) and free throw percentage (84.8%). Dion has four 20-point games this season including a career-high 23 points at the University of New England on January 22, 2018.

CUNNINGHAM CLEANS THE GLASS 
Jerome Cunningham enters the NCAA Tournament with a team-best seven double-doubles this year as well as 11 games with 10 rebounds. The sophomore opened the year with a career-best 20 boards against Newbury on November 15, and he had a run of nine-straight games with 10 rebounds, including four double-doubles, starting in January and running through February. His 521 career rebounds in just two years already puts him just outside the top-10 in program history in boards.

INJURY BUG BITES HARD
A year after only using two different lineups – with the only variance coming on Senior Night – head coach Tom Glynn had to go to five different starting lineups this season due to injury. The projected starting lineup has gone 17-1, but have only been reunited for the past seven games (7-0).

MORROW SAVES THE DAY
With all the injuries, freshman Matt Morrow was thrust into the starting lineup for the Bison, and the Nichols train kept on rolling as the Bison were 8-1 with Morrow in the starting-five this year. In his nine starts, Morrow is averaging 10.6 points and 8.0 rebounds per game, including three double-doubles.

NATE'S BEEN GREAT
In his first year with the Bison, freshman Nate Tenaglia has shown a pretty nifty handle while having a nose for taking charges. In the CCC Tournament, Tenaglia averaged 8.0 points, 1.3 rebounds, and 1.7 assists per game while shooting 50% from beyond the arc. For his efforts, Tenaglia earned the final CCC Rookie of the Week award in the conference.

ON THE ROAD AGAIN
For the second-straight year, the Bison are on the road in the NCAA Tournament facing the host school in the First Round. Last year, Nichols knocked off #11 Neumann 96-93 on their home court in the Opening Round. The Bison have gone 12-2 on the road this year, including a 4-1 mark in non-conference road games, and have an 11-1 mark against teams over .500.

GETTING OUT EARLY AND OFTEN
This season the Bison are only 13-2 when they score first, but boast a 19-1 record when leading at the half. Ironically enough, Nichols has trailed in its last two games at the break before going on to outscore their opponents by an average margin of 18.5 points in the second half.

90 POINTS OR HIGHER
When the Bison score over 90 points in a game, Nichols is currently 13-1, including a 4-0 mark when surpassing 100 points. Defensively, the Bison are 25-1 when allowing fewer than 90 points while losing both games when the opponent scored more than 91 points.

40% OF THE TIME, IT WORKS EVERY TIME
This season, the Bison are a perfect 25-0 when they shoot over 40% from the field, and also have a 12-0 mark when they knock down more than 40% of their three-pointers in a game. Defensively, when Nichols holds opponents under 40% shooting, the Bison are 8-0 and also have a 17-1 record when keeping teams under 40% shooting from beyond the arc.