DUDLEY, Mass. (Jan. 28) – The Nichols College men’s basketball team defeated Western New England College, 92-79, in a The Commonwealth Coast Conference matchup Thursday evening. Led by first year forward Kyle Mascilak’s (Sparta, N.J.) career-high 28 points and hot shooting overall, the Bison put up a season high in points and snapped the Golden Bears’ five-game win streak. Nichols improves to 9-8 overall and 2-4 in conference play, while WNEC dips to 9-8 overall and 4-2 in TCCC action.
Nichols had four players including Mascilak reach double figures in points. Junior guard Bryan Riley (West Boylston, Mass.) had a double-double with 18 points to go along with 13 rebounds. Junior Chris Paquin (Barre, Mass.) put in 15, while sophomore Pete Atkins (Gainesville, Fla.) recorded 14 points.
The Golden Bears had five players reach double figures in points. They were led by Chris Devine’s 17 points, 12 rebounds double-double. Andre Shaw scored 15, Mike Booker had 13 points and Brendan Murphy had 12. Rick Johnson led Western New England with 18 points on 6-12 shooting including two three-pointers.
The first half began with a fast pace and didn’t slow down for the rest of the game. The opening 19 minutes saw back and forth action as the teams traded the lead seven times.
With less than a minute left in the first half the Golden Bears held a one-point lead at 34-33. As the half was coming to a close Nichols nailed two three-pointers in the final minute. Atkins hit the first to hold a 36-34 lead, and then Riley knocked down a another with four seconds remaining to give the Bison a six-point lead heading into the half. The six-point lead marked the largest by either team in the half.
The second half began right where it left off with both teams coming out firing. Mascilak scored 12 of the Bison’s first 18 points of the half including two treys to spark Nichols’ offense as they expanded their lead to 16. Nichols did not relinquish their lead for the rest of the game even with the Golden Bears shooting away with 41 shots in the stanza.
Nichols College ended the game with a 51.9% shooting percentage from the floor and an 80% shooting percentage from the line. The Golden Bears fired off 79 shots in the game relying heavily on the three with 35 shots from behind the arc. The Bison outrebounded the Golden Bears 50-33, but the Bears committed 12 fewer turnovers than the Bison as with a 12 to 25 advantage.
Nichols is back in action Saturday January 30 in a 3 p.m. TCCC game at Curry College. Western New England will also play at 3 p.m. Saturday in a home TCCC game against the University of New England.
Box Score