Recap
Seniors Kash Jackson and DeAnte Bruton combined for 46 points in Nichols College's 91-82 loss to Christopher Newport University Saturday night in the Second Round of the NCAA Division III Men's Basketball Tournament at Canavan Arena in Hoboken, N.Y.
 
Jackson knocked down six 3-pointers and finished with 23 points while Bruton was 10-of-23 from the floor (3-of-6 three-pointers) and closed the game with 23 points for the Bison (21-9), who advanced to the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament for the third time in four seasons.
 
The Captains (23-6) dominated the glass, outrebounding the Bison 55-33 – including a 23-10 edge on the offensive end which led to 29 second-chance points. Ian Anderson came off the bench to score a team-leading 21 points to go with 10 rebounds. Jason Aigner played all 40 minutes and scores 19 points while Cutch Ellis filled the stat sheet with 14 points and 13 boards.
 
The Captains held a nine-point halftime lead as the two schools combined to hit 18 three-pointers. Jackson rattled home four triples and shared the team lead in scoring with Bruton (14) while Aiger's 13 paced Christopher Newport.
 
Nichols found itself down by 13 points early in the second half (60-47) before a 20-11 run brought them to within four with 9:01 to go. Senior Joseph Sekator sparked the run with seven points off the bench and Jackson dropped in a pair of three-pointers.
 
The Captains restored a nine-point lead following a basket from Luther Gibbs with 6:00 to go before the Bison made one final push, getting to within five on a Bruton layup 48 seconds later. Anderson answered with a layup at the other end that gave the Captains an 80-73 lead which never dipped below six the rest of the way.
 
Three things you need to know...
            -Jackson's 23 points is a career-high, surpassing the 20 points he scored at Lasell on December 20.
            -The Bison are now 5-4 all-time in the NCAA Tournament – including 1-2 in the second round. They previously lost to Endicott (111-75) in 2017 before defeating Rowan (87-76) in 2019.
            -Nichols finished the contest shooting 44 percent from the field (30-of-71) while Christopher Newport shot 51 percent (32-of-74).
 
Quote
"This wasn't the outcome that we hoped for. We ran into a great Christopher Newport team. They gave us everything they had and then some. I am happy for those guys. On the flip side, I couldn't be prouder of our group. We fought right until the very end. A couple of things didn't bounce our way, but that happens sometimes. In the end, we came up short, but he have nothing to hang our heads about." –Nichols head coach Brandon Linton