Mid Massachusetts News

Men's Basketball Win Streak Hits Nine as They Top Endicott, 93-78

The Nichols men's basketball team extended their win streak to nine on Wednesday night with a 93-78 win over Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) opponent Endicott. With the win, Nichols improves to 15-5 (11-2 CCC) while the Gulls fall to 12-8 (8-5 CCC).

Nichols jumped out to a 16-4 lead just 6:03 into the opening half with Ty Rucker leading the way early with seven of his 16 first-half points. The Bison's lead ballooned to 13 on a Rucker layup with 6:25 to play. The Gulls would go on a 14-3 run over the next 3:48 to tie the game at 32-32.

Tied at 37-37 with 3.1 seconds on the clock, Nate Duckworth inbounded to Matthew Alectus who knocked down a contested three at the buzzer to give Nichols a 40-37 lead at the half. Alectus finished the half with eight points, while also pulling down 11 rebounds.

Endicott was able to tie the game up at 55 with 13:33 remaining but a Rucker three out of a Nichols timeout gave the Bison the lead for good. The visitors used a 16-4 run over the next 4:50 to extend their lead to double digits. Endicott would not go away quietly, pulling within four points with just over seven minutes to play but that is as close as the Gulls would get as Nichols slowly put them away to secure the 15-point victory.

Rucker led the way for the Bison with a season-high 32 points. Tavon Jones added 19 points of his own to go along with seven boards. Alectus finished the game with 18 points and 17 rebounds, good for his 14th double-double of the season.

Nichols looks to push the win streak to double digits on Saturday, February 4 when they take on Suffolk at home with the tip set for 3:00 p.m. 

Original source can be found here