DUDLEY, Mass. – Junior Gustave Koumare (Harlem, N.Y.) scored a career-high 27 points in Nichols College's 100-46 win over the University of New England Saturday afternoon in Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) men's basketball action at the Nichols Athletic Center.
Junior Christian Horton (Rutland, Mass.) tied a career-high with 17 points as the Bison scored 100 points for the first time since scoring 130 at Endicott on January 8, 2013. The win – which was the second-largest in program history (54 points) – keeps Nichols undefeated in conference play at 6-0 while moving them to 9-4 on the season.
Junior captain Irving Eggleston (East Lyme, Conn.) chipped in with 22 points on 10-of-17 shooting while senior Matt Langadas (Sebago, Maine) – who scored his 1,000th career point two nights ago at Western New England – finished with 16.
Freshman Mano Senthil (Clifton Park, N.Y.) led the Nor'easters (3-9, 1-4 CCC) with 11 points off the bench. Junior Devin Thompson (Winthrop, Mass.) registered nine points while freshman Gavin Dibble (East Marion, N.Y.) had seven.
Nichols jumped out to a 12-2 lead as Langadas and Horton each knocked down triples to spark their team. The lead swelled to 25-4 behind eight more from Langadas, then 44-11 as Koumare ripped off 10 points in a span of 3:37, highlighted by consecutive three-pointers.
The Bison led by as many as 42 in the first half before settling into a 60-20 halftime lead. Koumare led all scorers with 19 points on 8-of-9 shooting while Langadas finished with 14 and Eggleston with 12. Senthil was UNE's top scorer with seven.
In the second half, Nichols moved in front by 50 at 79-28 on a jumper from Eggleston, and led by as many as 55 following a layup by sophomore Taylor Sarette (Keene, N.H.) late in the second half. Eggleston had a team-high 10 second-half points in 10 minutes for head coach Tim Glynn while Horton had nine and Sarette six off the bench and finished with eight.
The Bison shot a season-high 53 percent from the floor (40-of-76) and turned 27 UNE turnovers into 35 fast break points. They also outrebounded their visitors from the north 46-33 and notched a season-high 19 steals. Defensively, they held UNE to 31 percent shooting.
Nichols hosts Endicott Thursday at 5:30 p.m. UNE (3-9, 1-4 CCC) heads to Springfield Tuesday for a 7:30 contest with Western New England.