Statistics

BIDDEFORD, Maine -- Dominic Mello registered 26 points to pace Nichols College past the University of New England men's basketball team, 89-68, in a Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) outing at Coach Beaudry's Court inside the Harold Alfond Forum on Saturday afternoon (Jan. 6).

The Bison (10-3, 4-1 CCC) also received a 16-point, 10-rebound, five-assist performance out of Tavon Jones, and 17 points with nine boards from Deshaun Nettles. Jason Ofcarcik pitched in with 11 points, seven caroms, and three steals. The visitors shot 50 percent from the field (33-for-66) in the match and held a 52-32 scoring advantage in the lane.

Adrian Torres topped the Nor'easters (5-8, 0-5) with 14 points, seven assists, and six rebounds. Adam Lux and Jack Pyzynski each added 12 points. Kha Cao Ra James totaled nine points, shared the game-high of 10 rebounds, and had three blocks. UNE had a 49-48 edge on the boards, but with 19 of those on the offensive end, the field goal accuracy settled at 35 percent for the day (28-of-80).

The hosts trailed 5-2 during the initial moments until a 12-2 burst of four triples had the Nor'easters ahead, 14-7, just over four minutes into the contest. Jayden Thornton splashed two of his three treys in the span. UNE was still up at 17-13, but then a 19-2 stretch by Nichols with a dozen points from Mello flipped the margin to 32-19.

The Bison led 49-31 at the break and stretched it 25 (60-35) in the 2nd period. The Nor'easters sliced away nearly half of the deficit by the 8:43 mark (73-60), but the gap was too large to overcome.

UNE hits the road on Tuesday to face Wentworth Institute of Technology.