Recap
Freshman Jaekwon Spencer came off the bench to record a double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds for the Nichols College men's basketball team, which rallied past Western New England 87-79 in Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) Semifinal action Thursday night at the Nichols Athletic Center.
 
The top-seeded and No. 15-ranked Bison (24-2) trailed by as many as 19 points in the first half before a furious comeback saw them send the Golden Bears home for the third time in the last four seasons (2016, 2018, 2019). Senior Marcos Echevarria struggled from the field but finished the night with 21 points (8-of-11 FT) in 40 minutes of action while junior Jerome Cunningham battled foul trouble all night yet filled the stat sheet with 17 points, 11 rebounds, four blocks, and three dimes.  
 
Senior Mikey Pettway poured in a team-high 22 points (10-of-19 FG) in his final collegiate game for the Golden Bears (12-15), who shot 51 percent on the evening – including 59 percent in the first half which closed with them holding a 46-36 lead. Junior Tim Reilly knocked down four triples and finished with 20 points.
 
The Golden Bears rattled home eight of their first nine shots and raced out to a 27-8 lead behind three 3-pointers from Reilly and eight points from Pettway. The visitors settled into a 10-point halftime lead as Pettway led all student-athletes with 14 points while Cunningham's 10 paced Nichols.
 
The Bison climbed to within single digits following a jumper by junior DeAnte Bruton three-and-a-half minutes into the second half. Back-to-back triples from Echevarria gave the Bison their first lead of the night at 65-64 with 10:01 on the clock.
 
Western New England answered back and led by three with 3:29 to go on a three from sophomore Alex Sikorski before a three-point play from Spencer tied the game at 75. Cunningham's layup on the next NC position put the home team ahead by two (77-75), and five free throws from Echevarria and three from Tenaglia down the stretch sealed the victory.
 
Three things you need to know…

-Tonight's contest marked the 42nd all-time meeting between Nichols College and Western New England University. The Bison won all three meetings this season (eight of the last nine overall) and lead the series, 28-14.

-Echevarria extended his NCAA-record of games with a three-pointer to 100. In the process, he moved into 25th place on the Division III scoring list with 2,409 points.

-Nichols has now won 24+ games in each of the past four seasons.
 
Quote
"Western New England had a great game plan for us and did a nice job executing it. We had to battle all night. We were very happy with how we fought back one possession at a time. We did a really nice job with our team defense in the second half and made enough plays down the stretch to pull it out." –Nichols head coach Scott Faucher
 
Next game
Saturday, February 23 vs No. 2 Gordon, 4:30 p.m. (Hart Center – Worcester, Mass.)