DUDLEY, Mass. – Sophomore Marcos Echevarria (Lynn, Mass.) and freshman DeAnte Bruton (New London, Conn.) each scored 25 points to lift the Nichols College men's basketball team to an 89-71 win over UNE Tuesday night in the Quarterfinal round of the Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) Men's Basketball playoffs at the Nichols Athletic Center.
 
Freshman Tyler Dion (Barre, Mass.) knocked down four 3-pointers and finished with 14 points as the Bison advance to the semifinals for the second-consecutive season and will face No. 5 Wentworth, who upset No. 4 Gordon 82-75. Classmate Jerome Cunningham (Westbury, N.Y.) recorded a double-double with 10 points and a game-high 16 rebounds for Nichols, along with three blocks and a pair of steals.    
 
Nichols canned 14 three-pointers and finished the game shooting 50 percent from the floor (30-of-60). Defensively, the Bison forced 16 turnovers which they turned into 18 points. The Nor'easters saw three student-athletes reach double figures in scoring, led by senior CJ Autry (Standish, Maine), who dropped in 23 points and pulled down seven rebounds in his final collegiate game. Sophomore Daron Hoges, Jr. (West Orange, N.J.) and senior Jean-Luc Parker (Georgetown, Texas) scored 12 and 10 points, respectively.
 
The Bison opened up an early 15-7 lead as Bruton scored five points. UNE answered with a 7-0 run to pull to within one (15-14) behind five from Parker, but NC responded with a 10-0 run to grab an 11-point lead with 6:16 on the clock. The run was sparked by a pair of triples from Echevarria. The lead swelled to as many as 13 points before the home team settled into a nine-point halftime advantage (35-26).
 
Echevarria led all scorers in the first half with 14 points (4-of-8 three-pointers) while Dion had eight and Cunningham recorded six points and 11 boards. Autry paced UNE – which shot 27 percent – with nine points while Parker chipped in with seven. The Bison made 39 percent of their field goals in the opening stanza.
 
Bruton sank a three-pointer four minutes into the second half to help NC open up a 53-34 lead. Less than six minutes later, senior Devin Stallings (Waterbury, Conn.), junior Daequon Antoine (Fort Mill, S.C.), and Bruton sparked a 6-0 run and Nichols led 62-42.  
 
Still down by 20 with under nine minutes on the clock, UNE made one last run, climbing to within 11 points (82-71) with 1:42 remaining. Hoges, Jr. netted eight points to spark the cause, but two free throws from Antoine and one last three for Echevarria pushed the lead back to 16 points with one minute to go.  
 
 Nichols held a 39-38 edge on the glass.
 
All-Time Series
This afternoon's contest marked the 27th all-time meeting between Nichols College and the University of New England. The Bison have won five-straight and 15 of the last 16 against the Nor'easters.
 
Next Games
Nichols (21-5) – Thursday, February 23 vs No. 5 Wentworth, 7:00 p.m.
UNE (7-19) – Season complete