Recap
The Nichols College men's basketball team scored the final 20 points of the game as they rallied from a 15-point second-half deficit to stun Western New England 92-87 Tuesday night in Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) men's basketball action at the Nichols Athletic Center.
 
Senior DeAnte Bruton scored a game-high 26 points – including six in the final 1:03 of the game – while sophomore Jason O'Regan scored seven of his nine points over the final 3:36 when the Bison found themselves down 87-72. Junior Nate Tenaglia hit the go-ahead free throw after he was fouled taking a three-pointer with 34 seconds left and finished with 14 points.
 
Western New England (14-9, 9-5 CCC) – which committed four turnovers in a span of 43 seconds in the final minute of the contest – was led by junior Alex Sikorski with 23 points (9-of-13 FG), who is now five points shy of 1,000 for his career. Senior Mike McGuire drained four of the Golden Bears 14 three-pointers on the night and finished with 18 points while senior Tim Reilly and junior Zach Tavitian each dropped in 15 points.
 
The Golden Bears led by five at halftime (48-43) as they knocked down eight of their 17 three-pointers (47 percent) – including three from McGuire, who led all student-athletes with 13 points. Bruton and junior Matt Morrow each netted 10 for the Bison, who were a perfect 10-of-10 from the charity stripe in the opening 20 minutes.
 
In the second half, WNE opened up a 15-point lead on a pair of free throws from Tavitian with 3:36 remaining. O'Regan started the epic comeback by scoring seven-straight points to make it 87-79 with 1:48 on the clock before a layup from Bruton 45 seconds later cut the deficit to six (87-81) with 1:03 to go. Bruton then stole the ensuing inbounds pass and sank both free throws after being fouled to make it 87-83.
 
Following a timeout, senior Kash Jackson stole the next inbounds pass and converted an And-1 layup to make it 87-85. The Golden Bears then went down the floor and turned the ball over for the third-consecutive possession, and Tenaglia was fouled at the other end while attempting a three-pointer. He knocked down the second and third free throws to give the Bison (14-8, 9-4 CCC) their first lead since midway through the first half at 88-87.
 
The Golden Bears inbounded the ball with 33 seconds on the clock and appeared to be holding for the final shot, however Bruton intercepted a pass by McGuire and was fouled. The New London, Conn. native sank both attempts to stretch the NC lead to three (90-87). Seconds later, Bruton iced the game with a steal on the next WNE possession by hitting a pair of free throws.
 
Three things you need to know...
            -Tonight's contest marked the 43rd all-time meeting between Nichols College and Western New England. The Bison now lead the series, 30-15.
            -The Golden Bears finished the evening with 13 turnovers while NC gave the ball away 10 times.
            -Nichols outrebounded Western New England, 44-34, behind 15 boards from Morrow and six from both Bruton and sophomore Jaekwon Spencer, who added 14 points, two steals, two dimes, and one block.
 
Quote
"Awesome. There's no other way to describe it. We hung around and our guys fed off the energy of the crowd and pulled it out. I didn't know until after the game that we scored the final 20 points of the game. That's incredible. Our guys just never gave up despite not being at our best tonight." –Nichols head coach Brandon Linton
 
Next game
Saturday, February 15 @ Curry, 3:00 p.m.