DUDLEY, Mass. (Feb. 13) -- Senior forward Ryan Wilcox (West Granby, Conn.) sank the second of two free throws with 33 seconds left in the game to give him his 1,000th career point as he led the Nichols College men’s basketball team to a 77-67 win over Eastern Nazarene College in a The Commonwealth Coast Conference matchup Saturday afternoon.
Wilcox becomes the 23rd player in Nichols College men’s basketball history to score his 1,000th point, and the second this season. After being just 16 points away from 1,000 coming into today’s game, the senior captain was able to match that number exactly thanks to three field goals and 10 made free throws, eight coming in the second half. Wilcox also had a team-high seven rebounds for the Bison.
Senior Chris Paquin (Barre, Mass.) led the scoring for Nichols with 17 and also chipped in six rebounds. Senior point guard Bryan Riley (West Boylston, Mass.) added 12 points, five rebounds, and a team-high seven assists to help circulate the Bison’s offense in the win.
Sophomore center Chima Ezeigbo led the way for the visiting Lions with18 points, 11 rebounds, and four blocked shots before fouling out with 40 seconds left in the second half. Freshman Aaron Johnson added 17 points, and fellow freshman point guard Max Barbosa had a game-high nine assists in the loss.
The game was close throughout the first half, with Nichols barely leading most the way, until the Bison went on a 19-9 run to end the half, capped off by a three-pointer by freshman Kyle Mascilak (Sparta, N.J.). The teams went into halftime with Nichols ahead, 42-28.
The Bison came out strong in the seconds half, building their lead up to 20 off of two free throws from Wilcox eight minutes in. Eastern Nazarene countered with a 14-5 run of their own, cutting the Nichols lead to nine. After the Bison pushed the lead back up to 14 with five minutes to go, the Lions again went on an 11-3 run, making it a six point game, 73-67 with one minute to go.
The Nichols defense was able to make a few key stops in towards the end of the game, and the Bison went on to win by 10, 77-67.
With the victory, Nichols improves to 12-10 on the season, and 5-6 in TCCC games. Eastern Nazarene drops to 5-18 on the season, 3-8 in the conference.
Next up, the Bison host Regis College on Wednesday, February 17 in a 6 p.m. TCCC matchup. Eastern Nazarene travels to Newport, R.I. to face Salve Regina in a conference game at 8 p.m. on the same day.
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