DUDLEY, Mass. – Junior Gustave Koumare (Harlem, N.Y.) scored a team-high 19 points to help the Nichols College men's basketball team secure home court advantage throughout the Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) playoffs with a 66-55 win over Wentworth Saturday afternoon at the Nichols Athletic Center.
Sophomore Jared Thompson (Scituate, R.I.) came off the bench to known down four 3-pointers as the Bison (20-5, 17-1 CCC) established a conference record for wins in a season (17) and made sure the road to the CCC Championship goes through Dudley for the second-straight season. The 20 regular season wins is also a program-record.
Nichols will host No. 8 seed UNE Tuesday night at 7 p.m. in the CCC Quarterfinal round. The Bison blew out the Nor'easters 100-46 in Dudley back on January 10 behind 27 points from Koumare, then scored a 77-68 win in Biddeford, Maine last weekend.
Senior John-Michael Fragnoli (Schenectady, N.Y.) scored a game-high 21 points on 7-of-12 shooting for the Leopards (12-13, 10-8 CCC), who earned the No. 4 seed and will host No. 5 seed and defending conference champion Gordon Tuesday at 7 p.m. Freshman Jason Ganley (Northbridge, Mass.) was the only other Leopard to reach double-figures as he finished with 10 points – all in the first half.
The Leopards built a quick six-point lead as the Bison missed their first seven shots. A pair of layups from junior captain Irving Eggleston (East Lyme, Conn.) tied the game at six before the Leopards opened up a seven-point lead (17-10) following a three-ball from Ganley at 11:14.
Nichols responded with a 7-0 run to tie the game at 17 as senior captain Matt Langadas (Sebago, Maine) converted a fast-break layup and Thompson canned a three-pointer. Four more points from Eggleston, along with a three from Koumare, allowed the Bison to open up a seven-point lead (26-19) late in the half. Wentworth climbed to within two with 58 seconds on the clock before Koumare nailed a layup to give Nichols a four-point halftime lead.
Eggleston led all scorers in the first half with 15 points – including 9-of-10 from the line – while Koumare had seven points. Ganley came off the bench to score a team-high 10 first-half points. Both teams struggled to find their shooting touch as Nichols shot 30 percent and the Leopards 29 percent.
Langadas made his second field goal of the afternoon at 16:52 of the second half to push the NC lead to six, but the Leopards answered with an 8-0 run – sparked by four points from Fragnoli – to take a 40-38 lead at 13:49.
The next few minutes featured three ties and two lead changes, and with the score knotted at 49, Koumare scored consecutive baskets to give Nichols the lead for good midway through the half. Thompson got hot late, knocking down three 3-pointers and a pair of free throws in a span of 2:50 to secure the season sweep for the Bison.
Nichols shot 44 percent in the second half to raise its game total to 37 percent (22-of-60). The Bison connected on 9-of-28 from behind the three-point line and outrebounded the Leopards 42-36. Wentworth shot 35 percent from the floor and made 80 percent of its free throws.
Eggleston finished with 17 points while senior captain Joe Gallant (Salem, N.H.) made his only field goal attempt to finish with two points, 10 boards, and three blocked shots, which pushed his single-season record to 58. Koumare, meanwhile, notched six steals to increase his single-season program record to 75.