BOSTON, Mass. – The Nichols College men's basketball team rallied from a 14-point deficit to defeat the Wentworth Institute of Technology, 72-65, on Saturday afternoon in a Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) matchup in Boston, Mass.
 
The Bison improve to 12-2 and 6-1 in the CCC, while Wentworth drops to 9-4 and 4-3 in league games. Nichols is back in action Tuesday night when it travels to Eastern Nazarene College for a 7:30 p.m. matchup with the Lions.
 
Junior Marcos Echevarria scored a game-high 26 points to go with three rebounds, five assists, and three steals. Sophomore Tyler Dion connected on 7-of-11 shots en route to 21 points, while senior Daequon Antoinechipped in eight points, six rebounds, three assists, and three steals. Sophomore Jerome Cunningham saw his run of double-doubles come to an end, but he still pulled down a game-high 14 boards to go with six points.
 
Wentworth was led by a double-double of 21 points and 10 rebounds from senior Jason Ganley. Sophomore Stephen Azums added 14 points and six rebounds, while sophomore Ellis Christmas chipped in 10 points.
 
Wentworth took an early 7-0 lead as Jason Ganley scored the first seven points of the contest. Junior Josiah Kimball ended the run with a layup, and Daequon Antoine sandwiched three-pointers around a Wentworth bucket to pull the Bison to 11-8 with 12:43 to play.
 
The Leopards answered with an 8-3 run to jump back on top 19-11, but a three from Tyler Dion followed by back-to-back layups from Marcos Echevarria trimmed the deficit to 19-11 and forced a Wentworth timeout with 8:46 to play. A steal and layup from Antoine out of the timeout gave the Bison their first lead of the game 20-19.
 
Wentworth answered with a run of its own, scoring 11-straight points to take a 30-20 advantage with 4:12 remaining. Echevarria ended the run with a pair of free throws, and a driving layup from Dion cut the deficit to 30-24 with 3:29 to play. Another 7-0 run by the Leopards extended their lead to 37-24, and Wentworth eventually took a 40-28 lead into the half.
 
Nichols opened the second half on a 12-2 run, capped by a triple from Dion, to pull to 42-40 with 14:01 remaining. Dion made it a one-point game with a runner in the lane on the next possession, and a pair of free throws by the sophomore at the 11:00 minute mark kept it a 45-44 game.
 
After Wentworth took a 52-46 lead, Echevarria canned back-to-back triples from the same spot to knot the game at 52-52 with 8:53 remaining. Wentworth's Steven Azums answered with back-to-back layups to put the Leopards back on top 56-52, and Jerome Cunningham made it a one-possession game with a free throw before Echevarria rolled home a layup to make it 56-55 with 6:03 to play.
 
Nichols took its second lead of the game at the 5:03 mark when Tyler Dion connected from beyond the arc to put the Bison in front 59-58. Wentworth tied it with a free throw, but a fade away jumper from Echevarria followed by a deep triple gave the Bison a 64-59 advantage with 3:29 remaining and forced a Wentworth timeout.
 
The two teams traded baskets, and a pair of free throws from Dion kept it a 68-63 lead with 2:08 to play. After a stop on defense, Jerome Cunningham buried a free throw jumper before the shot clock expired and forced another Wentworth timeout with Nichols on top 70-63 and 1:29 remaining in the half.
 
Echevarria knocked down two free throws to pull ahead 72-65, and the Bison got a pair of stops down the stretch to hang on for the seven-point win.
 
Nichols shot 26-of-63 (41.3%) from the field, 9-of-20 (45%) from beyond the arc, and 11-of-20 (55%) from the charity stripe in the win. Wentworth connected on 47.4% (27-of-57) of its shots, 30.8% (4-of-13) its three-pointers, and only 35% (7-of-20) of its free throws. The Leopards won the rebounding battle 42-38, but committed 14 turnovers to just nine for the Bison.
 
All-Time Series
Saturday was the 47th meeting between the two programs and the Bison hold a 25-22 advantage in the series. Nichols has won nine of the last 10 meetings against the Leopards.