Men's Basketball Drops 93-83 Decision to Nichols

DUDLEY, Mass. – The Nichols College men's basketball team outlasted visiting Bridgewater State University, 93-83, on Saturday afternoon at the Nichols Athletic Center.

The Bison, who advanced to the NCAA Tournament Elite Eight last March, improve to 2-0 on the young season while the Bears fall to 1-1. Nichols received votes in the D3hoops.com Preseason Poll.

Senior guard Tavon Jones (Linden, N.J.) scored a game-high 34 points to lead the way for the Bison. Jones went 9-for-16 from the floor and 14-for-19 at the free throw line. He also added five rebounds, three assists, four steals and a blocked shot.

Senior guard Mykel Deering (Boston, Mass.) added 26 points, six rebounds, three assists and four steals for Nichols. Deering connected on 7 of 16 three-point attempts.

Graduate center Emerson Halbleib (Carmel, Ind.) paced Bridgewater State with double-double totals of 21 points and 15 rebounds. Halbleib, who also blocked two shots, went 9-for-13 from the floor and 3-for-3 at the charity stripe. Eight of his game-best 15 rebounds came off the offensive glass.

The Bears also received 22 points and five rebounds from freshman forward Josh Campbell (Plymouth, Mass.) as well as 16 points, six rebounds, five assists and four steals from sophomore guard Dante Kikuba (Framingham, Mass.).

The first half featured six lead changes with the Bears taking a 45-41 lead into the break following a Zach Taylor (Fr., Quincy, Mass.) layup and Campbell three-pointer to close out the period.

Bridgewater maintained the lead until the 13:31 mark of the second half when junior guard Dominic Mello (Wareham, Mass.) knocked down a three-pointer to knot the score at 57-57. There would be two more ties and three more lead changes in the period. A jumper by Kikuba evened the game at 67-67 with 9:29 showing on the scoreboard. The Bears had two opportunities to reclaim the lead but missed a jumper and two free throws on their next two possessions. Derring drained a trifecta at the other end of the floor to put the Bison on top, 70-67, with 7:46 left to play.

Bridgewater got as close as two points the rest of the way. A traditional three-point play by Halbleib cut the deficit to 79-77 with 4 ½ minutes remaining. The Bears however turned the ball over four times down the stretch and went 2-for-6 from the floor and 1-for-2 at the line. The Bison used an 8-0 run to take an 87-77 lead and outscored the Bears 14-6 over the final 4 ½ minutes to pull away for the 93-83 victory.

Nichols shot 44.3% (31-70) for the game, including 14-for-38 (36.8%) from behind the arc, and went 17-for-25 (68%) at the free throw line. The Bison defense forced 23 turnovers which led to a decisive 30-9 edge in points off turnovers.

Bridgewater dominated the inside game finishing with a decided 56-32 advantage in points in the paint. The Bears shot 48.6% (35-72) from the floor but just 5-for-19 (26.3%) from three-point range and 8-for-16 (50%) at the line.

In upcoming action, the Bears host the BSU Cave Classic next Friday evening and Saturday afternoon. Bridgewater will take on Ithaca College on Friday at 5:30. The Bison travel to the University of Saint Joseph on Tuesday night for a seven o'clock game with the Blue Jays.