Recap
Senior Marcos Echevarria dropped in a game-high 28 points to become Nichols College's all-time leading scorer in a 78-71 loss to No. 22 Salisbury University Sunday afternoon in non-conference men's basketball action at the Hampton Inn West Springfield/Naismith Classic at Blake Arena.
 
Echevarria scored his 2,107th career point on a layup with 6:33 remaining in the first half to surpass Ryan Sheehan '14 for the all-time scoring lead. He, along with sophomore Matt Morrow – who scored 16 points and pulled down eight rebounds – were named to the All-Tournament Team. Junior DeAnte Bruton and sophomore Nate Tenaglia each netted nine points.
 
Sophomore Mike Ward was one of four Salisbury student-athletes to hit double-figures in scoring, finishing with 20 points – including four 3-pointers. Junior J.P. Krotulis added 13 points while both sophomore Gary Briddell and junior Lucas Martin chipped in with 11 points. The Sea Gulls shot 44 percent from the field and rattled home 11 of their 23 three-point attempts.
 
The Bison owned an early 11-6 cushion after a jumper in the paint by Bruton at the 14:39 mark, but Salisbury responded with a 10-1 burst that was fueled by eight points from Krotulis, to take a 16-12 lead at 11:39. Over the next six-plus minutes, Nichols ripped of a 19-5 run to earn a 31-21 cushion following an inside bucket from Tenaglia with 5:03 remaining. However, Salisbury regrouped and manufacture a 16-2 run to close the half, with Ward accounting for seven points.
 
Salisbury's lead grew to 54-43 after Briddell cashed in a triple with 12:20 to play, only to have Nichols rattle off 12 of the game's next 13 points – including seven from Echevarria – to even things at 55 apiece. The lead changed hand six times over the next two-plus minutes before a critical three-pointer by Bridell with 2:53 left gave Salisbury the lead for good at 71-69. The Gulls made five of six from the line down the stretch to seal the win.
 
Three things you need to know...

-Today's game marked the inaugural meeting between Nichols College and Salisbury University, as well as the first-ever meeting for the Bison against a ranked opponent while currently ranked in the d3hoops.com Top 25.  The Sea Gulls now lead the series, 1-0.

-The Sea Gulls bench outscored the Nichols reserves 41-1.

-Echevarria has a chance to crack the NCAA Division III Top 25 career scoring list, as he is less than 300 points shy of No. 25 Alex Butler of Rhode Island College, who scored 2,398 points from 1994-97.
 
Quote
"It was a back and forth game between two teams who competed at a high level. They made a few more plays down the stretch than we did." –Nichols head coach Scott Faucher
 
Next game
Wednesday, January 2 @ Tufts, 7:00 p.m.

Contributions to recap from Springfield Sports Information Department