Recap
Junior DeAnte Bruton scored 23 points and was one of five Nichols College men's basketball student-athletes to reach double-figures in scoring in a 99-96 win at Western New England Tuesday night in Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) action.
 
Senior Marcos Echevarria added 22 points – including 7-of-9 from the charity stripe – while sophomore Matt Morrow went for 11 points and 10 rebounds in 17 minutes. Senior Josiah Kimball came off the bench to record 13 points and seven rebounds as the Bison received a season-high 35 points from their bench.
 
Antonio Brancato dropped in a team-high 23 points to go with seven rebounds while Mikey Pettway filled the stat sheet with 22 points, five assists, four rebounds, and a pair of steals for the Golden Bears (4-10-, 1-5 CCC).
 
The Bison held a nine-point halftime lead (47-38) behind 14 points from Echevarria and nine from Morrow. Brancato paced the Golden Bears in the first half with 12 points on 5-of-10 shooting.
 
Nichols (12-2, 4-1 CCC) opened up a 20-point second-half lead following a triple from Echevarria with 8:03 remaining before a 23-9 run brought the home team to within six (91-85) with 55 seconds remaining. Five free throws from Echevarria and three from Bruton in the final seconds helped stave off the Golden Bears furious comeback attempt.
 
Three things you need to know...

-Tonight's contest marked the 41st all-time meeting between Nichols College and Western New England University. The Bison have now won three-straight and lead the series, 27-14.

-Kimball's 13 points was a season-high, surpassing his previous high of 10, which he reached on two occasions: December 4 at Curry and January 5 vs Gordon.

-The Bison saw the Golden Bears shoot 53 percent from the floor (40-of-76) – the highest percentage they have yielded this season.
 
Quote
"The guys off the bench really stepped up tonight. They provided a spark when we really needed it. We need to continue to work on getting more consistent on the defensive end." –Nichols head coach Scott Faucher
 
Next game
Thursday, January 10 @ Wentworth, 7:30 p.m.