SWARTHMORE, Pa. – The Nichols men's basketball team kept their NCAA Division III Tournament run alive with an 86-68 victory over Stockton on the campus of Swarthmore College on Friday afternoon. With the win, Nichols advances to its first Elite Eight appearance since the 2018-19 season.
 
The Ospreys got off to a quick start, leading 8-2 at the 14:41 mark of the first half. Nichols began to get it going offensively, scoring the next eight points to take their first lead of the game. With the Bison leading 15-10, junior guard Ty Rucker buried a three and followed it up with a quick layup to add to the Nichols lead. The Bison kept their foot on the gas, stretching the lead to 11. Stockton answered a Matt Alectus layup with 16 seconds left with a three right before time expired to cut the Bison lead to seven at the break. Alectus had a huge first half to aid the Bison, scoring seven points to go along with 10 rebounds and two blocks.
 
Stockton opened the second half on an 8-2 run to pull within one. The Bison answered with four free throws from Tavon Jones and a layup by Alectus to extend the lead back out to five. The Ospreys refused to go away, going on a 7-1 run to take their first lead of the game since 13:38 in the first half. Nichols took the lead right back and then some, going on a game-changing 17-3 run, led by senior Jakigh Dottin, to give themselves a 14-point cushion, their largest lead of the game to this point.  With the Osprey's bringing the score back within single digits, Dottin once again decided to take over, scoring the next eight Nichols points to push the lead back to 14 with 9:25 remaining. Another big scoring run by Stockton was able to cut the Bison lead to five, but a Jones layup, a Dottin free throw, and a big three-pointer by Nate Duckworth brought the lead back to 11 with under five minutes to play. Nichols officially pulled away down the stretch, scoring nine of the game's last 11 points to secure their 20^th victory in a row.  
 
Dottin finished with 34 points, his season high. Jones added 16 points of his own, while senior Quincy Ferebee chipped in with 15 points, four rebounds, and three assists before fouling out. Alectus proved why he was named the Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) Defensive Player of the Year, tallying 15 rebounds and four blocks.
 
Nichols awaits the winner of No. 5 Keene State and No. 7 Swarthmore to see who they will take on tomorrow night with a Final Four berth on the line. Tip-off is set for 7:15 p.m. from Tarble Pavilion.