MILTON, Mass.- The Curry College men's basketball team suffered a 98-57 conference contest loss to visiting Nichols College at the Katz Gymnasium on Saturday afternoon. With the victory, the Bison improve to 16-5 overall and 11-3 in the CCC. The Colonels dip to 1-20 overall and 0-14 in league action.

The contest was tight early in the first half as the Bison could only grab a four point lead at 11-7 over the first four minutes of action.

Later in the half, Marcos Echevarria (Lynn, Mass.) went on a personal 6-0 run to push the Nichols lead to nine at 20-11 with 12:51 to go in the first stanza.

Two buckets by Curry's Kieran Carroll (Greenwich, Conn.) trimmed the lead to six almost midway through the first half, 20-14 with 10:20 remaining.

The deficit for the Colonels would reach double figures with 8:13 to go following a layup by Terrel Williams (Brockton, Mass.). The Nichols lead would reach 16 at 38-22 before Curry could trim away at the deficit.

A three by Alex Paul (Brooklyn, N.Y.) and two free throws by Luke Schreiner (Breezy Point, N.Y.) helped the Colonels cut the deficit to 11 at 38-27.

The lead would be pushed back to 11 before the end of the first half after Echevarria hit a free throw to give Nichols a 41-27 lead heading into the halftime intermission.   

The Bison opened the second half on a 17-4 run to take a 58-31 lead with 15:24 left in regulation. The lead would hit 25 on a layup by Devin Stallings (Waterbury, Conn.) and would later hit 40 points when Williams knocked down two free throws.

Ryan Beatty (Rochester, Mass.) scored five straight points for Curry to cut the deficit to 39 (91-52) with just 2:45 to play. Dwayne Boothe (Jamaica, N.Y) tallied a layup late in regulation while Nick George (Rockland, Mass.) and Bryan Tavares (East Providence, R.I) capped the scoring for the Colonels as they would fall by a final score of 98-57.

Carroll led Curry with a team-high 16 points on 7-for-17 shooting from the field in 29 minutes of action. The freshman also added seven rebounds and one steal. Jared Thorpe-Johnson (Dorchester, Mass) joined Carroll in double figures, registering 12 points and pitching in seven rebounds.

Echevarria posted a game-high 17 points on 5-for-14 shooting (4-for-9 from three) and added two rebounds and three assists in 26 minutes of play. Jerome Cunningham (Westbury, N.Y.) and Stallings pitched in 14 apiece while DeAnte Bruton (New London, Conn.) , Jordan Booker (Waterbury, Conn.), Daequon Antoine (Fort Mill., S.C.) and Williams added eight points each.

Nichols outshot Curry by a clip of 48.6% to 32.8%. They also knocked down 12 three pointers to register a 44.4 three point percentage. The Bison also posted a 72.7% mark from the free throw line, compared to 60% from the Colonels.

Nichols also held the edge in rebounding, assists and turnovers, turning 20 Curry turnovers in 25 points.

Curry will next play Wednesday as they team heads to the University of New England for a 5:30 league contest. Nichols returns to action Wednesday at home when they host will host Endicott for a 7:30 tip.