Box Score
Despite a second half surge by Nichols College in a Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) duel tonight in Gordon's Bennett Athletic Center, the Scots withstood the comeback to capture an 86-83 Senior Day win over the Bison to close out the regular season at 19-6 overall, 14-4 in conference. Nichols finishes at 13-12 overall, 8-10 in the CCC.

Senior forward David Dempsey (Wallingford, Conn.) highlighted the night by leading all scorers with 23 points to go with eight boards in the win, while junior guard Luke Hamilton (Mount Airy, N.C.) went 5-7 from downtown for 15 points to go with six rebounds. Junior guard Alex Carnes (Phoenix, Ariz.) and sophomore forward Jason Dempsey (Wallingford, Conn.) recorded 13 points, four rebounds and 10 points, six rebounds, respectively, and junior guard Park Thomas (Scottsdale, Ariz.) registered eight assists to tie his season high.

The Scots shot 52 percent (33-63) from the floor overall including 47 percent from behind the arc (8-17), and out-rebounded their guests 49-31 in the win.

Sophomore guard Matt Langadas (Sebago, Maine) led the Bison with 19 points, while freshman guard Irving Eggleston (East Lyme, Conn.) recorded 18 points and senior forward Craig Merrick (Ledyard, Conn.) added nine.

Nichols shot 43 percent in the outing (31-71) with 50 of their 83 points coming from the bench.

After a brief ceremony to honor seniors David Dempsey and forward Jordan Kelly (Braintree, Mass.), Gordon took an early lead following an 11-2 run in the opening four minutes behind six points from Hamilton. The Scots' next six points came off back-to-back dunks from David Dempsey and one from sophomore center Hans Miersma (Whitinsville, Mass.), but Langadas cut Gordon's lead down to four (21-17 at 12:20) by hitting Nichols' next 12 points. That would be as close as the Bison would get in the half, though, as Gordon stretched the lead to 15 by the break.

Following a slow start in the second, the Scots steadily increased their advantage to 20 at the 9:39 mark and looked to have the game in hand. Nichols, however, refused to go down without a fight, slowly chipping away at the deficit down the stretch and utilizing an 11-1 run in the final two and half minutes capped off by a three from freshman guard Christian Horton (Rutland, Mass.) to make it a one-point game (84-83). But a pair of clutch free throws from sophomore guard Taylor Bajema (Whitinsville, Mass.) with eight seconds remaining and a missed buzzer-beater at the other end by Eggleston gave the Scots the narrow three-point win.

Having captured the No. 2 seed for the upcoming CCC Championship tournament, the Scots will host No. 7 Roger Williams University on Tuesday, Feb. 19 at 7 p.m. Nichols, the No. 6 seed, will travel to face No. 3 Wentworth on the same day also at 7 p.m.

To view the full CCC Championship bracket click here.