DUDLEY, Mass. – On a day honoring three graduates of the class of 2023, the Nichols men's basketball team took down Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) opponent University of New England by a final score of 104-80 at the Nichols Athletic Center. The win marked the 12th in a row for the program as the Bison advance to 18-5 (14-2 CCC), while the Nor'easters drop to 2-21 (0-16 CCC). The current winning streak ranks tied-third all-time most consecutive wins in a season, trailing only streaks of 15 (2015-16) and 17 (2018-19).
In the first half, Nichols went on a 9-0 run over 3:09 beginning with an alley-oop dunk from
Quincy Ferebee assisted by
Nate Duckworth to push the Bison lead to 25-14 with 9:59 to play in the half, forcing UNE into a timeout. The Bison's eventual 14-4 run was capped off by a 3-pointer from
Matthew Alectus to push the score to 41-26 in favor of the Bison with 4:27 to play in the frame. The Nor'easters would not go to the locker room without putting up a fight, as they pieced together an 11-1 run to cut the lead to 9 right before halftime.
Coming out for the second half leading 48-41, Nichols used offense from four different scorers over the opening 6:53 to jump out to a 14-point lead with 13:07 to play, thanks to a second-chance dunk from
Shea Doherty. The Bison really found their groove on offense following a
Ty Rucker steal that led to a Ferebee three with 5:02 remaining to make it 88-67 in favor of the Bison. From there, Nichols would outscore UNE 16-13 to cap off its 12th-straight win.
Alectus was lethal on both sides of the ball, per usual, as the graduate student from Hollywood, Fla. recorded his 15th double-double of the campaign, pouring on 28 points and hauling in 13 rebounds.
Jakigh Dottin finished two assists shy of a triple-double, as the senior guard recorded 15 points, 12 rebounds, and eight assists.
Ferebee (23) and
Ty Rucker (20) finished with 20 points or better in the victory.
Duckworth played the maestro on offense with 10 assists in just over 32 minutes of action.
With today marking the regular-season finale, Nichols hits the road for the remainder of the season and begins its final road push on Wednesday, February 15 at 7:30 in a road CCC matchup at Salve Regina.
