DUDLEY, Mass. – Junior Ryan Sheehan (North Attleboro, Mass.) scored a game-high 38 points as the Nichols College men's basketball team rallied from a 13-point halftime deficit to defeat first-place Curry College 119-112 in Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) action Wednesday evening at the Nichols Athletic Center.
 
Senior Justin Kuntz (Wallingford, Conn.) and sophomore  Matt Langadas (Casco, Maine) each scored 15 points for the Bison (10-7, 5-5 CCC), who shot 57 percent in the second half (25-of-44) and forced 18 turnovers for the game. Nichols drained 18 three-pointers – including four by Sheehan and three from both Langadas and senior Craig Merrick (Ledyard, Conn.) – en route to scoring 71 points in the second half.
 
Curry shot a scorching 64 percent for the game - including 71 percent in the first half - and sank nine of its 15 three-point attempts. Senior Sedale Jones (Pittsfield, Mass.) paced the Colonels with 28 points – including 8-of-8 from the charity stripe – while junior Lambros Papalambros (Quincy, Mass.) went for 27 points before fouling out in the final minute. Sophomore Antonio Jones (Boston, Mass.) registered 18 of his 22 points in the second half.
 
Trailing 61-48 entering the second half, the Bison began to chip away at their deficit. An early 7-0 run sparked by five points from sophomore Jessy Michaud (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) brought Nichols to within six points two-and-a-half minutes in, but just as quickly, the Colonels pushed their lead back to 12 following a pair of free throws by Sedale Jones at 15:45.
 
Sheehan and Langadas combined for eight points to bring Nichols to within four at 13:50, then a triple by Merrick at 12:02 made is a three-point game (77-74). Junior Sam Horning (Falmouth, Maine) cut the visitors lead to two at 79-77 after he drained a triple, and Merrick's third trey of the night made it 83-82 midway through the half.
 
The Colonels answered right back, scoring 11 of the next 15 points to open up an eight-point lead (94-86) with 7:42 left in regulation. A three from Langadas and five points from Sheehan cut Curry's lead to two with five minutes remaining before a jumper by Sheehan tied the game at 99.
 
Antonio Jones gave his team a three-point lead with a layup at 2:38 before Langadas buried a three at the other end to tie the game for the eighth and final time. Senior Ted Amendola (Hyde Park, Mass.) gave Curry its final lead of the night at 108-107 as he made the first of two from the line with 1:38 on the clock. Freshman Gustave Koumare (Harlem, N.Y.) rebounded the miss for Nichols, went the length of the floor and fed Kuntz in the right corner for the go-ahead three with 1:30 to play.
 
Following a pair of missed three's by Antonio Jones and Sedale Jones, Sheehan knocked down a jumper to push the Bison lead to four at 112-108. He sealed the win by making all six of his free throws inside the final 28 seconds.
 
The game was tied at 37 with less than seven minutes to go in the first half when the Colonels went on a 24-11 run to close the stanza. Sedale Jones led all scorers through 20 minutes with 18 points while Papalambros tallied 16 and junior Carlos Ribeiro (Charlestown, Mass.) scored 14. Sheehan led Nichols with 11 while Langadas went for seven points and sophomore Joe Gallant (Salem, N.H.) posted five points and eight rebounds in 12 minutes.
 
Overall, Nichols picked up assists on 22 of its 42 field goals, led by five each from Michaud and Langadas. Merrick and Horning each finished with 10 points. For Curry, Papalambros dished out a team-high five dimes and also recorded three steals.
 
Nichols returns to action on Saturday with a 3 p.m. contest at Western New England. Curry hosts Gordon Saturday at 3 p.m. (Game recap courtesy of Nichols Sports Information)