WATERVILLE, Maine – Freshman DeAnte Bruton (New London, Conn.) scored 18 points in his collegiate debut as the Nichols College men's basketball team suffered a season-opening 80-75 loss at Thomas (ME) College Tuesday night at the Harry Alfond Athletic Center.
 
Sophomore Marcos Echevarria (Lynn, Mass.) added 17 points on 5-of-22 shooting while freshman Tyler Dion (Barre, Mass.) dropped I 13 points in his first collegiate contest. As a team, Nichols shot 36 percent from the field (27-of-75).
 
Junior Carlos Gonzalez (Kennebunk, Maine) led all student-athletes with 19 points (8-of-9 FG) for the Terriers and snared 12 rebounds while senior Tyheem Simon (Far Rockaway, N.Y.) had 14 points and seven boards. Sophomore Willie Grant (Philadelphia, Pa.) compiled 14 points and eight rebounds. Thomas (ME) outrebounded the Bison 49-43 and outscored them 54-38 on the fast break.
 
Nichols led by 10 at halftime (43-33) as Bruton netted in 14 points while Dion chipped in with 11 points. The Bison canned 44 percent of their shots and made four three-pointers. Simon paced the Terriers with nine points and three others scored six points.
 
In the second half, Thomas (ME) knocked down 49 percent of its shots and held the Bison to 12-of-41 from the field (29 percent). Gonzalez went 5-for-5 from the field and 3-of-3 from the line en route to scoring 13 points while pulling down eight rebounds. Echevarria led Nichols with 11 over the final 20 minutes.
 
The Terriers opened the second stanza on a 13-0 run to open up a 46-43 lead as Gonzalez made three layups and sank a free throw. Nichols went back up by six at 56-50 when junior Daequon Antoine (Fort Mill, S.C.) drained a three-pointer at 10:16, and then led by five with 6:55 to go following a three from Echevarria. A three-point play by freshman Tailour Hall (Jacksonville, Fla.) with 5:03 on the clock put the home team up for good, 70-67.
 
All-Time Series
Tonight's contest marked the third all-time meeting between Thomas (ME) College and Nichols College. The Terriers now lead the series, 2-1, having won both meetings in Maine.
 
Next Games
Nichols (0-1) – Saturday, November 19 vs Lasell, 3:00 p.m.
Thomas (ME) (1-0) – Friday, November 18 vs UNE, 5:00 p.m.