DUDLEY, Mass. (2/24/2025) - Making its 13
th consecutive postseason appearance, No. 5 Nichols men's basketball team begins play in the 2025 Conference of New England Tournament on Tuesday night against No. 4 Roger Williams University.
The game will be held inside the Campus Rec Center Gymnasium, with game time set for 5:30 PM.
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CNE Tournament Central
How They Got Here: The Bison, under the guidance of first-year head coach
Tyler Hundley, finished out their regular season with a 13-12 overall record, and a 10-8 mark in conference play. Nichols showcased its competitive edge on a number of occasions throughout the year, including a four-game win streak entering conference play which began with an upset victory over No. 10 Tufts University, 72-71. In conference play, the Bison also picked up notable wins over fellow tournament teams like Suffolk University (68-66), and Wentworth Institute of Technology (81-69).
The Hawks finished their respective campaign with an overall record of 17-8 and 12-6 in CNE play, and enter the 2025 tournament with wins in four of their last five contests.
Season Series: The Bison and Hawks split the season series this past year, with each team earning a win at home. Nichols took the first meeting by a final of 97-77, using a strong second-half performance to fuel the win. Junior guard
Javen Flowers-Smith led the scoring for the Bison, netting a career-best 44 points on 17-of-24 (70.8%) shooting, which was the most in a single game for the program since the 1993-94 season.
The Hawks were victorious in the regular season finale, narrowly beating the Bison by a 70-68 final score on January 25
th. As was the case in Nichols' win earlier in the year, the Hawks surged in the second half, erasing a 13-point deficit by outscoring the Bison 40-25 to claim the win. Mac Annus was the leader for Roger Williams in that matchup, scoring 22 points.
Who to Watch: Flowers-Smith has been undeniably one of Nichols' strongest assets on the offensive side of the ball, and currently ranks top-five in the CNE in overall scoring (20.6 PPG). Having started in 24-of-25 regular season contests, the two-time CNE Player of the Week has registered double-figure points in all but two games this year, and owns a 42.9 (185-for-431) shooting percentage.
Defensively, two names stick out for Nichols;
Simon Percy, and
Ryan Savoy. Of the pair, Percy is the ranks in the conference top-10 in total rebounds (160), in which he sits tied for 9
th with Roger Williams counterpart Finn Miller. However, Savoy sits atop the conference leaderboard in both blocks (51) and blocks per game (2.1).
Annus, one of the conference's top sharp shooters, leads the Hawks into the first-round tilt averaging 20.7 points per game while ranking in the top-three in both three-point field goals per game (2.7) and three-point shooting percentage (46.9%). Nate Lopes and Sean Gogolin join Miller as part of the defensive squad on the Hawks, botch ranking in the top-10 in blocks per game.
The winner of Tuesday's first-round matchup will advance to the CNE Tournament Semifinal round on Thursday, February 27
th to face top-seeded Western New England University (19-6, 15-3 CNE). Official game time is yet to be determined.
