BIDDEFORD, Maine (1/6/24) – From the opening tip, the Nichols College men's basketball team owned the offense in a dominant 89-68 victory over the University of New England in Commonwealth Coast Conference action on Saturday afternoon at Coach Beaudry's Court.
Nichols now has wins in their past four contests and improve to 10-3 (4-1 CCC) on the season. With the loss, the Nor'easters drop to 5-8 (0-5 CCC) overall.
Junior Dominic Mello scored a career-best 26 points on 11-of-29 (52.4%) shooting to lead the Bison offensive effort, additionally recording three assists. For the third straight game, junior Deshaun Nettles put up double-figures with 17 points on the afternoon, while senior Tavon Jones picked up his third double-double of the season with 16 points and 10 rebounds. As a team, the Bison shot an even 50% (33-of-66) from the floor, scoring 52 of their points from the paint.
The Bison trailed this hosts 14-9 through the opening five minutes of the first half before four consecutive points by Nettles made it a 14-13 score. Shortly thereafter, the Bison shifted into the lead for good with a 13-2 run over a 3:30 span to make it a 32-19 game, highlighted by nine points from Mello. The two teams then combined for 19 points in two minutes, with Nichols maintaining a comfortable 12-point lead with 6:00 left in the half. The Bison finished the half outscoring the Nor'easters 8-2 and held a comfortable 49-31 lead at the break.
The comfort for the Bison only grew in the second half as they pushed their lead to 60-35 with a 10-0 run just over three minutes in. Through the midway point of the half, the Nor'easters slowly chipped away at the deficit but failed to close it any closer than 13 points. With under five minutes to play, the Bison defended well against the hosts by limiting them to just three points, allowing them to emerge with the 89-68 victory on the road.
The Bison will return to Massachusetts for their next matchup at Endicott College (10-3, 6-0 CCC) this coming Tuesday, January 9th with tipoff scheduled for 7:30 PM.