Feb 14, 2015
BIDDEFORD, Maine -- Nichols College finished a 19-2 spurt just prior to the midway mark of the 2nd half to turn around an eight-point deficit on the way to a 77-68 Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) men's basketball victory over the University of New England on Saturday afternoon (Feb. 14) at the Harold Alfond Forum.
The Bison (18-5) stay one game clear atop the league standings at 15-1 with the result, while the Nor'easters (6-17) slip to 4-12 in CCC action.
Junior Irving Eggleston recorded 22 points and four steals to lead NC, and classmate Gustave Koumare drained five shots from long distance on the way to 18 points. Junior Christian Horton and sophomore jared Thompson each added 10 points. Senior Matt Langadas ended with seven points and eight assists, and classmate Joe Gallant scored six to go with a game-high 13 rebounds.
UNE received 16 points apiece from junior Devin Thompson and sophomore CJ Autry, combining for seven treys. First-year Evrim Ozkan did not miss from the floor or the charity stripe to register 10 points, and classmate Drew Coveney posted eight points, five rebounds, and eight assists. Autry also had a team-best seven caroms and three steals.
The hosts jumped out to a 6-0 start and still led by one (11-10) until J.Thompson canned a pair of triple to spark a 10-0 Nichols run. When the margin peaked at 11 (27-16), D.Thompson kept Big Blue close with 10 points in-a-row and shrinking the gap to six (32-26) in the process.
The Bison were up 40-35 at intermission, with Eggleston at 14 points and D.Thompson scoring 13 for UNE.
Ozkan turned Big Blue's first possession of the final stanza into points, kicking-off a 14-1 stretch that sent the Nor'easters to a 49-41 cushion at the 16:32 mark. UNE's rookie forward had all of his eight 2nd-half points in the span.
Nichols countered right back with 10 unanswered in 1:48, including six from Eggleston. After the home side leveled things at 51-51, Eggleston gave the visitors the lead for good with a jumper in the paint and NC quickly built a 60-51 margin.
The Nor'easters sliced the spread down to one (64-63) with 5:20 left, but six straight on a three-pointer by J.Thompson and three-point play from Koumare pushed it to seven.
UNE got back within three (70-67) only to have Langadas convert a three-point play of his own to all but seal the decision with 1:45 on the clock.
Both squads will be entertaining league match-ups on Tuesday, with Nichols taking on Eastern Nazarene College (13-3 CCC) at 5:30 p.m. and Big Blue facing Curry College (3-13 CCC) at 7:30 p.m.