DUDLEY, Mass. – Senior captain Matt Langadas (Sebago, Maine) scored a career-high 31 points to lift the Nichols College men's basketball team to a 101-89 win over Eastern Nazarene in Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) men's basketball action Tuesday night at the Nichols Athletic Center.
Junior captain Christian Horton (Rutland, Mass.) also reached a career-high in points as he scored 20 to go along with five board and five dimes in 40 minutes of action. The win gives the Bison 16 conference wins for the second-consecutive season – a CCC record – and moves them to within one win of their second-straight 20-win campaign. With a win on Saturday against Wentworth, the Bison would secure homer court advantage throughout the CCC playoffs.
The Bison shot a season-high 90 percent from the free throw line (min. 10 attempts) as they sank 37 of their 41 attempts – led by junior captain Irving Eggleston (East Lyme, Conn.), who went 11-of-13 from the charity stripe en route to 19 points. Senior Chris Johnson (Mansfield, Mass.) was the fourth Nichols student-athlete to hit double-figures as he chipped in with 17 points and 10 rebounds off the bench; he was also a perfect 7-of-7 from the line.
Junior Corey Doran (Fairfield, Calif.) led the Lions with 24 points on 11-of-19 from the floor. Classmate Jaylen Owens (Johns Creek, Ga.) added 18 points and seven assists in 37 minutes of action for the Lions, who slipped to 20-4 (13-4 CCC) on the season despite shooting 49 percent from the field (34-of-70).
The Lions jumped out to 15-6 lead 6:36 into the contest behind four points each from Owens and Doran. The Bison scored 12 of the next 14 points to grab a one-point lead (18-17) as Langadas banged a pair of three's and Eggleston closed the run with a layup.
A three-point play from Johnson with 6:08 to go in the half pushed the Nichols' lead to seven at 31-24 before he threw down a dunk off a nifty feed from Koumare to push the lead to 13. Langadas knocked down his third 3-pointer of the first half with less than one minute left in the half to send Nichols to the locker room up eight (46-38).
Langadas led all scorers with 19 points on 6-of-8 shooting while Johnson netted 13. Doran paced ENC with 15 points. The Lions canned 52 percent of their field goal attempts (16-of-31) and outrebounded Nichols 21-15. Nichols, meanwhile, shot 46 percent and made 11-of-12 from the charity stripe. The Bison committed just two turnovers and forced nine, which led to nine points.
Nichols pushed its lead to 14 two minutes into the second half behind a jumper from Langadas. Eastern Nazarene responded with a 24-10 run to tie the game at 62 as Doran scored nine and junior Justin Wagner (Oklahoma City, Okla.) added eight, including a pair of triples.
The Bison reeled off an 11-2 to break the tie and move in front by nine with 8:20 left in the second stanza. Eggleston's three-point play at 4:11 gave Nichols a 16-point advantage (90-74) before he rattled home two free throws late to make it 18 with 1:16 to go.
The Bison and Leopards play at 12:00 p.m. on Saturday. The Lions host Western New England Saturday at 1 p.m.