SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – Junior captain Irving Eggleston (East Lyme, Conn.) poured in a career-high 29 points to lead the Nichols College men's basketball team to a 73-62 win at Western New England in Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) men's basketball action Thursday evening.
Senior captain Matt Langadas (Sebago, Maine) added 17 points en route to becoming the 25th student-athlete in program history to reach the 1,000-point milestone for his career. He also dished out a game-high eight assists. The win keeps the Bison perfect in conference play (5-0) and moves them to 8-4 on the season.
Junior Christian Horton (Rutland, Mass.) was the third Bison in double-figures as he chipped in with 10. The Bison held the lead for over 37 minutes of action and shot 50 percent from the field (27-of-54).
Sophomore Mike Gelineau (Waltham, Mass.) led the Golden Bears (3-8, 1-3 CCC) with 18 points while senior Musa Elsir (Springfield, Mass.) went for 16 points. WNE outrebounded Nichols 33-30.
The Bison took advantage of an off-shooting night for the Golden Bears, who were 21 of 56 for a .375 field goal percentage. Nichols went 27-for-54 for 50.0 percent from the floor, and forced 16 WNE turnovers that resulted in 16 transition points.
The game opened with both teams getting acclimated until freshman Nelson Zayas (Springfield, Mass.) made a layup on the fast break to put WNE up 2-0 at the 18:21 mark. After junior Zack Askew (Middletown, Conn.) converted a layup for the Golden Bears' last lead at 4-3, Eggleston had one of his own to put the Bison ahead for good. Nichols held WNE to 31 percent shooting in the first half and led 29-20 behind 11 from Eggleston. Gelineau posted nine to lead the home team.
In the second half, baskets by Horton and senior Joe Gallant (Salem, N.H.) stretched the Nichols lead to 33-20. The Bison eventually built a 19-point cushion (55-36) with 9:49 remaining before the Golden Bears reeled off a 26-14 run to climb to within seven on several occasions. Nichols made 10 consecutive free throws to ice the win.
Gallant snared nine rebounds to go along with four points and four blocks.
The Bison host UNE Saturday at 3:00 p.m. The Golden Bears head to Quincy, Mass. for a 3:00 p.m. contest at Eastern Nazarene on Saturday.