DUDLEY, Mass. (11/7/2025) - The Nichols College men's basketball team opened its 2025-26 season with a 91-81 non-conference loss to Rhode Island College on Friday evening inside the Nichols Athletic Center.

The Bison start off at 0-1 to open the new campaign, while the Anchormen move to 1-0 with the win.

Graduate student Dominic Mello and senior Javen Flowers-Smith each stepped up for the Bison in the loss, scoring 20 points apiece. With Flowers-Smith also dishing out a team-high five assists, Olivier St. Louis finished the night in double-figures with 16 points of his own, while junior transfer Edrick Quezada led the Bison on the boards with five rebounds in the effort. As a unit, Nichols finished the evening going 30-of-70 (42.9%) from the field, 5-for-24 (20.8%) from three, and 16-for-21(76.2%) from the charity stripe, with 23 total bench points.

Nichols came out to a hot start against the Anchormen in the opening minutes of the first half with six unanswered points to jump ahead 8-2, igniting the home crowd. A Flowers-Smith dunk in the fourth minute of action only amplified the Bison momentum, and spearheaded an 11-5 run for the hosts to extend their lead to 18-11, with Mello accounting for six consecutive points in that stretch. However, as both teams went back and forth through the midway point of the half, RIC regrouped late in the action after wearing down Nichols' defense, ultimately pulling to within just one possession of the Bison, 36-35 at halftime.

Out of the locker room, the Anchormen capitalized on some early foul trouble by the Bison, outscoring the hosts by a 14-4 margin through the first four minutes of the second half, giving them their first lead of the night. The situation would not improve for the Bison down the stretch, with RIC furthering their lead to as many as 15 points at 65-50 with 9:50 to play, with the team reaching the double-bonus by the midway point of the half. As the Bison worked to regain their rhythm, the Anchormen remained in control for the remainder of the contest, closing out the game shooting 63.6 percent from the field.

Nichols returns to the court on Wednesday, November 12^th with another non-conference tilt against Rivier University (0-1) at 7:00 PM.