DUDLEY, Mass. – The Nichols men's basketball team won the Commonwealth Coast Conference Tournament Championship over No. 2 Western New England in front of a packed gym at Nichols College on Saturday afternoon by the score of 87-64. The win marked Nichols sixth CCC Tournament Championship in program history, repeating as champions for six straight seasons.
Both teams got off and running in the first 10 minutes of the game, with Nichols taking an early 20-17 lead.
Tavon Jones came out of the locker room on fire, scoring eight of the first 20 Nichols points. The teams traded blows over the next six minutes, with the lead changing three times. After a layup by Western New England's Gavin Greene, a
Nate Duckworth three-pointer started a 7-1 run by the Bison to give them a nine-point lead, their largest of the first half. The Golden Bears answered with a quick 6-0 run of their own to cut it to three before a Jones layup with 4 seconds left gave Nichols the 42-37 halftime advantage.
Jones was the leading scorer for Nichols with 16 points, also pulling down six rebounds.
Jakigh Dottin and
Ty Rucker contributed to the scoring in the half with eight and seven points, respectively. Western New England was led by forward Jake Harrison with 10 points and seven rebounds before the break. Nichols shot 45.7% from the floor in the half.
Coming out of the locker room in the second half, Western New England was able to cut the lead to three after two free-throws by Harrison. The Bison responded quickly, as
Matthew Alectus drained a three, followed by a Rucker steal and score to extend the lead back to eight with 14:47 remaining. This sequence started a 13-0 run by Nichols to give them a comfortable 16-point lead.
A fastbreak dunk by Greene cut the Bison lead back to 10, but a Rucker three out of a Nichols timeout led to seven straight points for the home team to push the lead to 17 with just over eight minutes remaining. With the lead at 13 with 4:35 remaining, the Bison had one more big run left in them, as a flagrant foul by WNE's Tim Restall started an 8-0 run for Nichols, capped off by two Dottin free-throws, to give the Bison a 21-point lead to all but clinch the title.
Rucker paced the Bison with a 24-point effort while also collecting three steals. Jones secured a double-double with 22 points and 12 rebounds, while also picking up six assists. Alectus was a menace on the defensive end, blocking seven shots and pulling down 17 rebounds to go along with 16 points, good enough for his 19th double-double of the season. Dottin was an efficient 4-5 shooting from the field for 12 points.
Nichols controlled the game for most of the way, leading for a total of 36:39 and never trailing by more than two points which came with 13:14 remaining in the first half. The Bison held Western New England to 38.5% shooting for the game and had a plus seven turnover margin for the game.
Nichols clinches an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Men's Basketball Tournament. The team will find out its next opponent during the NCAA Selection Show on Monday, February 27 at 1:00 p.m.
