Leicester, MA --- Nichols freshman Ryan Sheehan (N. Attleboro, MA) impressed with a game-best 27 points and six three pointers as he helped the Bison defeat Worcester State, 86-79, in the consolation bracket of the Worcester County Classic hosted by Becker this evening.
Becker used a late bucket to defeat WPI, 62-61, in the championship game to earn their first-ever Worcester County Classic title.
Senior Justin Aldrich (Douglas, MA) also paced Nichols (1-2) with 16 points while sophomore Kyle Mascilak (Sparta, NJ) and junior Michael Salis (Nashua, NH) each contributed 15 and 12 points, respectively. Second-year Justin Kuntz (Wallingford, CT) came off the bench to hand out six assists and grab five boards.
The Lancers (0-3) were propelled by junior Frank Stephenson (Fall River, MA) who recorded his first double-double of the season with 26 points and 10 rebounds. Sophomore Monte Goodwin (Boston, MA/Belmont) added 17 points as senior Dave Douillette (Bridgewater, MA) and freshman Mike Gittens (Uncasville, CT) each chipped in with 10 points apiece.
15 of Stephenson's 26 points would come second period as he also dished out four helpers.
Aside from the points column, the Bison used a balanced rebounding and distribution system to defeat the Lancers as no player had more than five caroms and Nichols had 22 assists for 29 field goals made. The Lancers out-rebounded the visitors by a narrow 35-32 margin as the Bison held a 22-12 edge on points off turnovers.
Nichols was also effective from beyond the arch as they connected for 13-for-24 of their three pointers (54 percent) as both squads shot over 45 percent of their own shots for the contest.
The two teams battled to a 45-45 tie at the intermission as there would be eight ties and eight lead changes and neither team would lead by more than six points. The Bison had the five point advantage early on in the contest and the Lancers would have the 43-37 edge following a three-pointer by sophomore Michael O'Leary (Millbury, MA) with 2:16 left, but Nichols answered with an 8-2 run to close out the half.
The Bison then opened the second stanza by outscoring Worcester State 10-4 over the first five minutes of the frame for their largest lead of the contest to that point (59-49). The Blue and Gold responded with five straight points by Stephenson, but that was as close as they would come over the next seven minutes.
Nichols would maintain a seven-to-10 point margin, but it would never be a comfortable one as the Lancers continued to try to get back into the game. With the Bison ahead by 12 at the 7:30 mark, WSU went on a 6-0 spurt over the next 1:30 to trail 72-66. But Sheehan came up big as he would drill a three pointer and the front end of a free throw opportunity make it a 76-66 contest with 4:19 in regulation.
With the Bison ahead by 78-68 with two minutes to go, the Lancers used one final push to pull within five points (80-75) with 67 seconds left. But Nichols went 6-for-8 from the charity stripe in the final minute of regulation to help seal up the victory.
Ironically, Worcester State will get one more chance at the Bison on Monday at 7:30 in their home opener as they will try to earn their first win of the season.