DUDLEY, Mass. – Junior Gustave Koumare (Harlem, N.Y.) drained seven 3-pointers and finished with a game-high 23 points in Nichols College's 78-51 win over Roger Williams University Saturday afternoon in Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) men's basketball action at the Nichols Athletic Center.
Sophomore Jared Thompson (Scituate, R.I.) came off the bench and scored a career-high 18 points on six 3-point field goals as the Bison moved to 11-0 in conference play (14-4 overall). Junior captain Irving Eggleston (East Lyme, Conn.) registered 17 points while senior captain Matt Langadas (Sebago, Maine) finished with 13 points and six dimes. Senior captain Joe Gallant (Salem, N.H.) broke his own school-record with six blocked shots.
Nichols made 15 three-pointers and shot 39 percent from the field for the game (27-of-69). The Bison committed only four turnovers and turned 21 Hawks turnovers into 24 points. Roger Williams (7-12, 5-7 CCC) held a 50-34 edge on the glass.
Senior Ryan Palumbo (Warwick, R.I.) recorded a double-double with 17 points and 11 rebounds – both team-highs. Junior Leonardo Atkinson (Nantucket, Mas.) filled the stat sheet with eight points, eight rebounds, and two blocked shots.
The two teams played an even first 12 minutes with Nichols up 20-18 at the 7:22 mark. The Bison closed the half on a 27-8 run – sparked by four 3-pointers from Thompson off the bench – and took a 47-26 lead to the locker room. Thompson and Koumare each knocked down a pair from long range to open up a 36-22 lead with 3:28 to go before two more bombs from Thompson pushed the lead to 22 late in the stanza.
Koumare knocked down five 3-pointers in the first half and led all scorers with 17 points while Thompson finished with 12 points and Langadas dropped in 10 points. McCourt led the Hawks with seven. Nichols canned 56 percent of its three-point attempts (10-of-18) and did not turn the ball over. Defensively, the Bison forced 11 turnovers which led to 16 points.
Nichols opened up a 20-point lead early in the second half following a triple by Eggleston at 17:18. A layup by Eggleston at 10:19 pushed the lead to 25 before he sank a pair of free throws minutes later to make it a 31-point margin (69-38). One final three from Thompson with 2:43 on the clock gave Nichols a 32-point lead.
Nichols heads to Curry Tuesday night for a 5:30 p.m. contest. The Hawks head to Eastern Nazarene for a 7 p.m. contest on Tuesday.