DUDLEY, Mass. – The Nichols College Bison were able to hold on to defeat the Roger Williams University Hawks in a Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) men's basketball contest in the Nichols Athletics Center, 93-90, on Saturday afternoon.
Mac Annus (Belmont, Mass.) tallied a game-high 32 points going 13-18 from the floor in the contest, with 5 rebounds and an assist.
John Ah Kao (Dumont, N.J.) 20 points in the tilt, going an efficient 7-12 from the floor with three assists and a pair of steals, while
Philip Sughrue (Winchester, Mass.) added 10 points with three rebounds, nine assists, and four steals.
Devin Johnson (Ridgewood, N.J.) had 14 points with eight rebounds, three coming on the offensive end.
Nichols opened up the game taking a 7-3 lead, but Roger Williams rallied with Annus connecting on a three-point jumper to cut the deficit to one. The Bison expanded the lead back out to five, but another three by Annus, and a layup by Sughrue leveled the score at 11-11.
After an Ah Kao three with 4:20 remaining in the half to cut a Bison lead to three, the Bison finished a layup, before a pair of free throws cut the lead back down to three. The Bison then hit back-to-back threes taking a nine-point lead, and would hold that lead heading into the half.
Roger Williams trailed by 12 with 15:25 remaining before the Hawks cut the lead down to eight. The Bison led 79-67 with 6:20 remaining, but the Hawks would not go away, cutting into the lead with four straight points. A free throw by Nate Duckworth gave Nichols an 80-73 lead before a layup by Johnson cut the lead down to five. The Hawks cut the deficit to three with 4:08 remaining after
Will MacDonald (York, Maine) connected on a jumper.
The Bison led by eight with 30 seconds remaining but the Hawks were able to cut the lead down to three after a three pointer by Annus with five seconds remaining. The Hawks would be unable to complete the comeback, falling just short.
Roger Williams (11-14, 8-8 CCC) will travel to No. 4 Wentworth on Tuesday, Feb. 20 at 7:30 pm for the CCC First Round. The winner will advance to the CCC Semifinals on Thursday, Feb. 22.
