Men's Basketball Drops Opener To Nichols

Worcester, MA --- Junior Chris Paquin (Barre, MA) scored 14 points while freshman Lorenzo Atkins (Gainsville, FL) added 13 points and a game-high nine rebounds -- off the bench -- to help propel Nichols to a 72-66 victory over Becker tonight at Lancer Gymnasium in the first round of the Worcester County Classic.

The Bison (1-0) advance to the championship game at 4 PM tomorrow against WPI while the Hawks (0-1) will play in the consolation match against Worcester State at 2. Earlier this evening the Engineers advanced to their sixth straight championship game by defeating WSC, 78-57.

Trailing 58-65 with 3:30 left to play in the contest, Nichols went on a 14-1 run close out the game. Six Bison free throws put the Bison within two and then Paquin knotted the score at 1:48 with a layup. Nichols forced a turnover and then took the lead on a basket by junior Bryan Riley (W. Boylston, MA).

The Hawks missed a three-point opportunity on their next possession and then Ryan Wilcox (East Granby, CT) put the Nichols up by four with a basket to help seal the victory.

The Bison shot 47.8% (22-for-46) from the floor while Becker hit a porous 38% (11-for-29) from the charity stripe. The Hawks parlayed 35 Nichols turnovers into 38 points due in large part to swiping 22 balls.

Wilcox chipped in with 13 points off the bench while Paquin grabbed seven rebounds. Riley and freshman Michael Salis (Nashua, NH) each notched eight points for the Bison.

For Becker, senior Travis Suber (Springfield, MA) scored a game-best 19 points with seven steals while junior Darren Callahan (Chicopee, MA), sophomore DJ Exum (New London, CT) and freshman Michael Massey (New Haven, CT) each tallied nine points. Suber, Massey and senior Drew Schroll (Portland, CT) each recorded six rebounds for the Hawks.

-Worcester State Sports Information-