QUINCY, Mass. – The Nichols College men's basketball team held on for a 79-76 victory over Eastern Nazarene College on Tuesday night in a Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) matchup in Quincy, Mass.
 
The Bison have now won four-straight games to improve to 13-2 overall and 7-1 in the CCC. Eastern Nazarene drops to 6-9 and 2-6 in league games with the setback. Nichols returns to action on Saturday night when they host Roger Williams University at 7:30 p.m.
 
Junior Marcos Echevarria connected on 9-of-15 shots, including 7-of-11 triples, en route to a game-high 26 points with two steals. Sophomore DeAnte Brutonreturned from a two week absence to score 22 points on 8-of-15 shooting with four rebounds. Classmate Jerome Cunningham just missed a double-double with nine points, 13 rebounds, five assists, a steal, and two blocks. Senior Daequon Antoine chipped in 12 points, three rebounds, two assists, and three steals.
 
Eastern Nazarene was led by a double-double of 22 points, 13 rebounds, and three assists from freshman Trey'von Davis. Sophomore Brenndan Rogers added 14 points off the bench, while sophomores Noah Cheney and  Josh Rice added 12 points apiece. Sophomore Jacob Waldroop posted seven points, eight assists, and two steals in the setback.
 
Nichols shot 50.8% (30-of-59) from the field, 34.6% (9-of-26) from beyond the arc, and 58.8% (10-of-17) from the free throw line in the win. Eastern Nazarene knocked down 54.5% (30-of-55) of its shots, 33.3% (6-of-18) of its threes, and 71.4% (10-of-14) of its free throws. The Lions won the rebounding battle, 34-27, but committed 17 turnovers to just 11 for the Bison.
 
The two teams played to a draw through the first five-plus minutes of action as a jumper from Echevarria knotted the game at 10-10 with 14:08 to play. Nichols followed that up with nine-straight points, capped by three freebies from Daequon Antoine, to take a 19-10 advantage with 11:12 remaining. Echevarria sandwiched three-pointers around a layup from Rogers to give the Bison their largest lead of the game at 31-20, but the Lions answered with an 11-0 run of their own to knot the game at 31-31 with 1:05 to play in the half.
 
Echevarria ended the run with a jumper inside the final minute as the Bison took a 34-31 lead into the half.
 
Nichols built a 43-35 advantage with 17:16 remaining in the second half following a triple from Echevarria, but a 10-2 run by the Lions knotted the game at 45-45 three minutes later. A 7-0 run by the Bison put them back on top 52-45, and a triple from Echevarria with 10:25 remaining extended the lead to 59-51. Back-to-back triples from Rogers and Waldroop put the Lions back to within two at 59-57, and after two free throws from Rogers tied the game at 59-59, a three-pointer from Josh Rice gave the Lions a 62-59 lead with 6:46 remaining.
 
Echevarria answered with a three-pointer to knot the game, and a layup from Cunningham put Nichols back in front 64-62. A layup from Bruton followed by a monster dunk from Cunningham gave the Bison some breathing room at 73-66 with 3:05 remaining. The teams traded baskets until another score inside from Cunningham kept Nichols in front 77-69 with less than two minutes to play.
 
Eastern Nazarene scored five quick points to get back to 77-74 with 45 seconds remaining, but Bruton dropped a tear-drop jumper over the outstretched hand of a defender to make it a 79-74 advantage. Trey'von Davis scored a late layup for the Lions and ENC called a quick timeout to set up a press. Out of the stoppage, the Bison avoided the pressure and ran out the clock on the tight victory.
 
All-Time Series
Tuesday night marked the 37th meeting between the two programs, with the Bison holding a 22-15 edge in the series dating back to 1989. Nichols has won seven of the last eight meetings.