BIDDEFORD, Maine -- Nichols College scored eight unanswered points with under four minutes remaining to turn around a two-point deficit and then held on for an 80-76 The Commonwealth Coast Conference men's basketball victory over the University of New England in the regular-season finale for both teams Saturday afternoon at the Campus Center.

Trailing by two (69-67) following a UNE free throw with 3:53 to go, the Bison scored the next eight to take a 75-69 lead with 1:37 left on the clock. Big Blue senior Franco Foti (Cross River, N.Y.) nailed a trey at the 1:18 mark to make it a three-point contest, but Nichols canned five of six from the charity stripe the rest of the way to seal the win.

First-year Ryan Sheehan (North Attleboro, Mass.) poured in a game-high 30 points to pace the visitors, hitting 6-of-11 from deep and converting all but one of his 11 free throws. He also pulled down a match-best seven rebounds.

Nichols received 14 points from sophomore Justin Kuntz (Wallingford, Conn.), while classmate Kyle Mascilak (Sparta, N.J.) and junior Michael Salis (Nashua, N.H.) each contributed 11. As a team, the Bison (7-17, 4-9 TCCC) out-rebounded their opponent, 38-28.

For the Nor'easters (4-21, 2-11 TCCC), junior Marcus Winn (Austin, Texas) and first-year Charles Fenner (Bronx, N.Y.) combined for 37 points (20 and 17, respectively), which included seven makes from long range and a perfect 12-of-12 on freebies.

Junior Ryan Knotek (Saratoga Springs, N.Y.) was limited to just 17 minutes with foul trouble, but finished with 11 points on 5-of-6 shooting.

The contest was close throughout, featuring six lead-changes and 10 ties. Nichols built a cushion of as many as nine in the latter stages of the opening half, before settling on a six-point margin (42-36) at the break. The Bison shot 50 percent (15-for-30) in the frame, and drained seven three-pointers.

The lead peaked at 11 (47-36) moments into the second half on a shot from long distance by Sheehan, only to see UNE respond 17 straight points to assume a 53-47 edge. Winn had dropped in 10 points during the stretch that concluded at the 12:40 mark.

Nichols managed to pull back even (60-60) with 8:44 to play, and the ensuing four minutes saw neither team gain an advantage of more than two points, setting up the deciding run by the Bison.