DUDLEY, Mass. (12/7/24) – Junior Javen Flowers-Smith scored 44 points on Saturday night for the Nichols College men's basketball team, leading them to a clutch 97-77 victory over Roger Williams University for their first Conference of New England (CNE) triumph of the season inside the Nichols Athletic Center.

With the win, the Bison halt a three-game losing streak and improve to 3-5 (1-2 CNE) overall. With the loss, the Hawks fall to 5-3 (1-1 CNE).

Flowers-Smith scored his career-best 44 points on a stellar 17-of-24 (70.8%) performance from the field, which paired nicely with five rebounds, eight assists and a steal. His point total was the most in a single game for the Bison since Billy Collins against Western New England on February 20^th, 1994.

Sophomore Simon Percy and senior Ryan Savoy were each in the fray as well Monday, scoring 16 points apiece while Percy added 11 rebounds for his second double-double of the season. Junior Jason Peters scored 13 points, which was a career-best for the guard, to round out the list of double-figure scorers. As a team, the Bison enjoyed their best shooting performance of the season at 60.9 (39-of-64) percent, which included 50 points scored in the paint.

The first half was neck-and-neck affair between the Bison and the Hawks, with the two sides combining for eight ties and 14 lead changes. Nichols' biggest run of 7-0 came between the 13:12 and 12:13 marks of the frame and included four points from Flowers-Smith and a triple from Peters. As play continued, both teams played a continuous game of leapfrog with the lead, with the score deadlocking at 42-42 by halftime.

The Hawks nailed a pair of early baskets to open the second half, but quickly found themselves trailing the Bison as Nichols put up 12 unanswered points across a 2:30 span, which included back-to-back threes from Darrell Hardge and Ethan Minarik, and dunks from Percy and Savoy. With the newly established eight-point lead in hand, the Bison maintained control of the score the rest of the half, increasing their advantage to as many as 21 points on a third dunk, this time from Flowers-Smith. The Bison went go on to win the contest, 95-77.  

The win sends the Bison into the winter break, with their next return scheduled for Sunday, December 29^th against St. Lawrence University (5-2, 0-2 LL) as part of the Clark University Tournament. The game will take place at Hurst Courts (Clark University), and is scheduled for a 5:00 p.m. tip-off.