MILTON, Mass. – The Nichols College men's basketball team rain their win streak to 10 with a 124-57 thumping of Curry College in Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) men's basketball action Tuesday night.
Junior Gustave Koumare (Harlem, N.Y.) led four student-athletes in double-figures with 24 points as he connected on six of the team's program-record 23 pointers on the evening. Sophomore Jared Thompson (Scituate, R.I.) banged in seven from long range, becoming just the seventh student-athlete in program history to achieve that feat, and finished with a career-high 21 points.
With the win, the Bison become the first program in conference history to open the conference slate with 12-straight wins, and improved to 15-4 overall. Nichols connected on 61 percent of its field goal attempts (46-of-76), which is the sixth-best single-game shooting performance in program history. Additionally, the 124 points is the third-highest total in program history, two shy of the 126 scored against New England College on February 12, 2001, and six shy of the record of 130 set at Endicott on January 8, 2013.
Junior captain Irving Eggleston (East Lyme, Conn.) filled the stat sheet with 21 points (7-of-8 FT), eight rebounds, four steals, and three assists. Senior captain Matt Langadas (Sebago, Maine) and junior captain Christian Horton (Rutland, Mass.) each scored 14 points. Langadas sank for triples while Horton was 2-for-2 from beyond the arc as Nichols attempted 39 three's, which is the third-most in program history.
Nichols scored more points in the opening half (62) than the Colonels did the entire game. Thompson rattled home five 3-point field goals and, along with Eggleston, scored a game-high 15 points through the first 20 minutes. The Bison shot 61 percent in the first half (22-of-36) – including 59 percent from three-point land – and forced 14 turnovers on defense. Curry, meanwhile, shot 33 percent in the first half.
Overall, the Bison scored 31 points off 25 turnovers, received 45 points from their bench, and held a 40-29 edge on the glass. Nichols – which picked up 26 assists in a win over Curry earlier this season – dished out 22 more tonight, led by Koumare with seven and Horton with five. Koumare and Eggleston each had four steals as the Bison finished with 18 – one off the season-high of 18 (UNE, Jan. 10).
Senior Matt Russell (South Portland, Maine) finished with 16 points to lead the Colonels (4-16, 2-11 CCC), who shot 40 percent on the evening (22-of-55). Sophomore Paul Preziosi (Quincy, Mass.) chipped in with 14 points.
Nichols hosts Gordon in a rematch of last season's conference championship Thursday at 7:30 p.m. The Colonels play the Fighting Scots in Wenham Saturday at 3 p.m.