DUDLEY, Mass. (1/31/24) – The Nichols College men's basketball team shored up its lead in the Commonwealth Coast Conference standings on Wednesday night with an 87-85 victory over Endicott College at the Nichols Athletic Center. The win comes as the 11^th straight for the Bison.

Nichols improves to 17-3 (10-1 CCC) overall, while the Gulls drop to 12-8 (7-5 CCC).

The Bison shot 52.6 percent (32-of-61) from the field in the effort. It was another standout night for junior guard Dominic Mello, who led the Bison with 24 points on 9-of-18 (50.0%) shooting with three steals, three rebounds, and two assists. Senior guard Tavon Jones recorded his team-leading sixth double-double of the season with 21 points and 13 rebounds, while freshman forward Jason Ofcarcik chipped in a career-high 17 points. Junior Deshaun Nettles finished the evening with 11 points and nine assists.

Mykel Derring started the game with a quick three-pointer off the opening tip to help the Bison to an early 9-3 lead. However, the Gulls pulled back into the action with five unanswered points to make it a 9-8 score, kickstarting a period of back-and-forth play between the two teams. Down the stretch, Nichols eventually maneuvered back into the lead late thanks to a 10-2 run with baskets by Mello, Jones and Derring to make it a 36-25 ballgame with 3:12 remaining. The Bison then finished the half with a 41-31 lead, capped off by a Mello triple in the final 30 seconds.

The Bison lead grew to its highest difference of 16 points early in the second quarter, but eventually fell by the wayside as the Gulls narrowed it back down to single digits with 12:14 to play. From there, the guests mounted an 11-3 run in an attempt to steal the lead away from the Bison but failed to do so as Nichols remained one step ahead. With the score now at 62-61 Bison, back-to-back two-point strikes by Ofcarcik opened up a 9-0 run by the hosts, which stretched the lead back out to 10 points at 71-61. Endicott again tried to make things uncomfortable for Nichols, but still struggled to get over the hurdle as the Bison claimed the win by way of a Mello free throw with seconds left. 

The Bison will look to carry the momentum into a Saturday afternoon matchup against the University of New England (5-15, 0-12 CCC) at 3:00 PM, right back at the Nichols Athletic Center.