MIDDLEBURY, VT – Nichols College mounted a big second half rally and earned a comeback victory over the University of Rochester by a 74-71 score in the opening round of the NCAA Division III Tournament on Friday evening at Middlebury College's Pepin Gymnasium.
 
Nichols (24-5) drained four free throws over the final 30 seconds to pull ahead, with Rochester's last second 3-point attempts from Mitchell Kershner and Ryan Algier missing the mark, ending the Yellowjackets season.
 
Rochester drops to 16-10 overall and falls in the first round of NCAA's for the first time since the 2006-07 season, a span of seven tournament appearances.
 
The Yellowjackets were led by Algier who led all scorers with 21 points. He shot 9-for-14 from the field and added seven rebounds. Kershner had 17 points and a career-high 11 rebounds, recording his first career double-double. 15 of Kershner's points came in the opening half.
 
Matt Wiele added 13 points and six rebounds with Ross Gang adding 7 points, 7 assists and 6 rebounds for the Yellowjackets.

The Bison had five players in double-figures, with its rotation consisting of just six players. Tavon Jones led Nichols with 19 points and 10 rebounds while Matthew Alectus added 16 points, 9 rebounds and 3 blocks, including two in the final minute of regulation.
 
Tilquan Rucker scored 14, Jakigh Dottin finished with 13 and Quincy Ferebee chipping in 12 before fouling out late in the game. Two of Dottin's points came on clutch free throws with 24 seconds remaining, putting the Bison up 72-71.
 
Rochester jumped out to a big lead in the first half thanks to a strong showing from behind the arc. Kershner hit back-to-back three's, and Dan Masino added another in a 13-2 run which boosted the Yellowjackets lead to 21-6 after nine and a half minutes.
 
Nichols got back within nine, but Rochester responded again right away with another 11-2 spurt, reaching a game-high lead of 20 points, sitting up 35-15 with 5:10 left in the half. T.C. Price paced UR's scoring in the run with a 3-pointer and a free throw, while Kershner drained another triple to cap the surge.
 
Rochester led by 16 at halftime following a buzzer-beating layup from Wiele, up 46-30. Over the opening 20 minutes, UR hit 7-of-14 from long range and 53 percent from the field overall. Nichols, meanwhile, shot 34 percent overall and was just 4-for-15 from distance in the half.
 
The fortunes reversed in the second half, as the Bison combined to outscore the Yellowjackets 44-25. Rochester missed all nine of its 3-point tries and was limited to 30 percent from the floor. Nichols rebounded with a 52 percent effort from the floor and held a second half advantage from the free throw line, making 14-of-18 attempts.
 
"It was a tale of two halves, we really set the tone in the first half and were really executing well on both sides of the ball," said UR Head Coach Luke Flockerzi following the game. "It was almost as if we lost sight of what was working for us [in the second half]. Nichols is a talented team and stepped up, made plays and that was a difference in the game.
 
After six minutes of play into the second half, Nichols cut its deficit to nine following an 11-4 start.
 
Rochester went inside to Algier over the next several minutes, as the graduate student kept UR's lead around ten. Algier ended with 16 points and six rebounds, all on the offensive glass, over the final 20 minutes.
 
With just under eight minutes to go, Nichols went on a big 12-0 run to take a 68-63 lead. The four-minute stretch saw Rochester go 0-for-5 from the floor while Nichols was 3-for-4 and made six free throws. Dottin and Ferebee each had four points in the spurt which gave Nichols its first lead of the game.
 
Down five, Algier knocked down two big free throws to stop the Bison run and kickstarted an 8-0 push from the Yellowjackets, allowing UR to regain the lead.
 
During the run, Algier followed with a steal and tip in to cut the Nichols lead to one, trailing 68-67 with 3:05 left. After a missed 3-pointer by Rucker, Gang was fouled but missed both free throws which could have given Rochester a lead.
 
Kershner secured the offensive board, allowing Rochester a second chance to regain the lead, which Algier put to good use, tipping in another missed basket to move Rochester back in front 69-68 with just 2:14 left.
 
At the other end, Jones secured an offensive rebound following an Alectus 3-pointer heave, but Algier came up with another big steal, getting the ball back in UR's hands.
 
Nichols began fouling, trying to extend the game, eventually sending Kershner to the line with 63 seconds to play for two free throws. The UR senior made both and Rochester was up three, 71-68.
 
Dottin pulled the Bison back within one with a driving layup inside and after a UR missed one-and-one chance at the other end, Nichols had the ball back with a chance to tie or take the lead.
 
A hop step dribble in the lane from Dottin was rewarded with a foul call by the officials and he was sent to the line for two big free throws. The Bison senior guard calmly sank both and Nichols was back in front, 72-71 with 24 seconds left.
 
On Rochester's next possession, Gang saw a floater blocked by Alectus and go out of bounds off of UR, giving the ball back to the Bison. Jones followed with his two late free throws putting Rochester down three as the seconds wound down.
 
The Bison defense stepped up on the final possession, forcing the pair of misses which proved to be the difference. Nichols will move on to the second round of the tournament and will square off with the winner of the Middlebury-Worcester State matchup on Saturday.