DUDLEY, Mass. – Junior Irving Eggleston (East Lyme, Conn.) scored a game-high 21 points in 25 minutes of action as the Nichols College men's basketball knocked off Western New England 90-49 Saturday afternoon in Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) men's basketball action at the Nichols Athletic Center.
Senior captain Joe Gallant (Salem, N.H.) recorded eight points, 10 rebounds, and three blocked shots as the Bison improved to a conference-record 14-0 against CCC schools. They also reached the 17-win plateau (against four losses) for just the third time in program history (2003-04; 2013-14).
Junior Gustave Koumare (Harlem, N.Y.) picked up 11 dimes to go along with nine points, seven rebounds, and three steals, giving him a single-season program record 63. In the process, he moved into fourth-place all-time with 115 for his career.
Sophomore Jared Thompson (Scituate, R.I.) knocked down four 3's and finished with 12 points, junior captain Christian Horton (Rutland, Mass.) filled the stat sheet with 15 points, seven boards, and three steals, and senior captain Matt Langadas (Sebago, Maine) canned three triples and finished with nine.
Nichols shot 52 percent from the field (34-of-66), made 13 three-pointers, and outrebounded the Golden Bears 40-35. Western New England, meanwhile, made 36 percent of its shots (21-of-58) and was led by junior Zack Askew (Middletown, Conn.) with 12 points.
The Bison quickly built a 10-point lead five minutes into the contest behind seven points from Horton. Back-to-back layups from Eggleston put Nichols ahead 27-11 just past the midway mark of the first half, and a half-court three for Horton at the buzzer sent the Bison to the locker room up 20 at 44-24. Eggleston and Horton each netted 12 in the opening stanza.
Nichols opened up a 30-point lead following a fast-break layup from Eggleston 4:14 into the second half, and a dunk from senior Chris Johnson (Mansfield, Mass.) off a feed from Koumare gave the home team a 38-point advantage (69-31) with 11:01 on the clock. Sophomore Jim Tereau (West Yarmouth, Mass.) came off the bench for Nichols and made three of his four field goal attempts, the last of which made it a 40-point game.
The Bison head to Beverly, Mass. for a 5:30 p.m. contest with Endicott on Tuesday. The Golden Bears (8-13, 6-8 CCC) host Wentworth Wednesday at 7:30 p.m.