DUDLEY, Mass. – Junior Gustave Koumare (Harlem, N.Y.) scored a team-high 22 points to lift the Nichols College men's basketball team to an 86-76 win over Lasell College Saturday afternoon in non-conference action at the Nichols Athletic Center.
Senior captain Matt Langadas (Sebago, Maine) scored 16 of his 21 points in the first half as the Bison – who led wire-to-wire – evened their record at 2-2 in the home coaching debut of first-year head coach Tom Glynn. Koumare, meanwhile, knocked down 5-of-10 from behind the arc and also recorded four steals, four dimes and three rebounds. Junior captain Irving Eggleston (East Lyme, Conn.) filled the stat sheet with 19 points, five boards, three assists and two steals while senior Chris Johnson (Mansfield, Mass.) registered eight points and seven boards in 20 minutes.
The Lasers (1-3) – who eliminated the Bison in the semifinals of the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Tournament in March – received a game-high 30 points from senior Angel Ortiz (East Lyme, Conn.). Junior Pat Marchand (Cranston, R.I.) dropped in 23 points on 8-of-13 shooting.
The Bison raced out to a 14-4 lead behind a pair of triples from both Langadas and Koumare. Back-to-back three's from senior Marlon Bennett (Stratford, Conn.) pushed the lead to 20 points less than nine minutes into the contest, and the Bison rolled into halftime with a 21-point lead (58-37). They canned 10 three's in the half as Langadas and Koumare each sank three, and entered the locker room shooting 63 percent (22-of-35) from the floor. The Lasers, meanwhile, made 48 percent of their attempts from the field (12-of-25).
Lasell tightened up defensively in the second half and slowly chipped away at the Nichols lead. A three-point play by Ortiz brought the Lasers to within 15 points five minutes into the half, and a layup by Marchand with 9:42 to go made it a nine-point game at 67-58. Ortiz rattled in his fourth three-pointer of the afternoon at 8:08 to get Lasell to within seven (70-63) with eight minutes to go before three's from Langadas at 7:07 and Koumare at 4:33 pushed the Nichols lead back to 11. The Lasers didn't get to within seven points again until the final minute of the contest.
"We had a great team effort today, especially in the first half," said Glynn. "Our offense was really clicking. Matt Langadas made a lot of shots early. Christian Horton played excellent defense and did a great job pushing the tempo from the point guard position. Overall, I'm very happy to get this home win. Our goal is to win every home game and we set the tone for that today with our defense and our first-half offense."
The Lasers outrebounded the Bison 36-32 as Marchand and senior Mike Vallone (Wallingford, Conn.) – who netted 12 points – each snared seven. Nichols turned 17 Lasell turnovers into 22 points and committed just 13 of its own.
The Bison play an exhibition at Holy Cross tomorrow at 4 p.m. before hosting Husson in a key non-conference matchup Monday at 7 p.m. Lasell hosts Brandeis Tuesday at 6 p.m.