– The Nichols College men's basketball team handedly defeated the University of New England, 92-62 in conference play at the Nichols Athletic Center on Saturday afternoon.

With the win, the Bison improve to 8-7 (5-3 CNE) on the season, while the Nor'easters fall to 5-10 (3-5 CNE) with the loss.

The Bison had four total players score in double-figures against the Nor'easters, including a pair of players with double-double performances. Javen Flowers-Smith led the offensive push with 29 points on 11-of-22 (50.0%) shooting, in addition to six assist and three steals. Simon Percy and Jason Peters each scored 13 points apiece, while Olivier St. Louis scored 10 in the effort. Percy and St. Louis were also the pair of Bison with double-double outings, with each additionally hauling in 11 rebounds. Nichols finished 30-of-63 (47.6%) from the field, 8-of-19 (42.1%) from three, and 24-of-26 (92.3%) from the charity stripe.

Nichols, defensively, held the Nor'easters without a point through the games opening six minutes, all the while the offense piled on a 14-0 run highlighted by three straight dunks between Percy and Flowers-Smith. UNE finally broke the ice with a layup at 12:51 but saw Nichols answer with a Luke Chapman three on the following play to make it 17-2. Across the midway point of the half, UNE outscored the Bison 12-3 to bring themselves to within six points of the hosts, only for Nichols to re-up their lead to as many as 18 points by the conclusion of the half, courtesy of a final layup by Peters with 00:21 remaining.

After UNE cut it to 41-25 with an early layup in the second, the Bison countered with a 9-0 run as a second dunk by Flowers-Smith made it a 50-25 game with 17:49 remaining. Shortly after a tip-in layup by the Nor'easters, Nichols continued to pile on the points with another 7-2 run, further extending their lead to 28 points at 55-27 less than a minute later. Down the stretch, Nichols' saw its lead grow to its highest point of the night, 92-61 on a Harrison Stanwood jumper at 2:06, eventually leading the Bison to their 92-62 victory.

Nichols will jump back into conference play with a home matchup against Endicott College on Wednesday, January 22^nd. Tip-off is set for 7:30 PM inside the Nichols Athletic Center.