BOSTON, Mass. (1/13/18) – Junior Marcos Echevarria (Lynn, Mass.) scored 19 of his game-high 26 points in the second half to help lead the Nichols College men's basketball team over Wentworth Institute of Technology, 72-65, in Commonwealth Coast Conference action Saturday afternoon inside Tansey Gymnasium.
With the win the Bison improve to 12-2 overall and 6-1 in league play while the Leopards fall to 9-5 (4-3) after the setback.
Wentworth senior Jason Ganley (Northbridge, Mass.) fueled the Leopards to a 7-0 run to open the first half, before Nichols junior Josiah Kimball (Saint Johnsbury, Vt.) put the Bison on the board at 15:45. Back-to-back treys from Nichols senior Daequon Antoine (Fort Mill, S.C.) pulled the visitors within three, 11-8, but a layup from senior Michael Boaheng (Worcester, Mass.) gave Wentworth a 19-11 advantage with 9:39 to go. A 10-0 spurt put the Leopards up 27-20, including four points from sophomore Ellis Christmas (Elmsford, N.Y.), and carried their lead into double-digits, 35-24 on a layup from sophomore Matt Vartanian (Salem. N.H.). Christmas drained a trey with less than a minute to go, bookended by two points apiece from sophomore Tyler Dion (Barre, Mass.) and sophomore Jerome Cunningham (Westbury, N.Y.), as Wentworth held a 40-28 lead at halftime.
Nichols came flying out of the gates in the second half, and used a 12-2 run – including five points from Dion – to pull within a single possession, 42-40. Wentworth held on to the lead, as Ganley and sophomore Stephen Azums (Hyde Park, Mass.) kept the Leopards in front 52-46. The Bison nailed back-to-back triples from Echevarria before Dion hit a game-changing shot from behind the arc to give the visitors their first lead of the game, 59-58, with five minutes left in regulation. Ganley tied the score at 59-59 with a free throw, but Nichols held on throughout the final minutes of the contest, as a 6-2 concluding run gave the visitors the come-from-behind victory.
In addition to his 26 points, Echevarria also added five assists, while Dion was close behind with 21 points in the triumph. Cunningham led the Bison on the glass with 14 rebounds and added six points of his own.
Ganley led the Leopards on all fronts with 21 points, 10 rebounds, and six assists. Azums tallied 14 points with six boards, while Christmas rounded out double-digit scoring for Wentworth with 10 points.
Both teams return to conference play on Tuesday, January 16. The Leopards head to Western New England for a 5:30 p.m. tilt with the Golden Bears, while the Bison travel to Eastern Nazarene for a 7:30 p.m. tip-off with the Lions.
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