SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – Junior guard Bryan Riley (West Boylston, MA) made only one basket, but sank three of four free throws in the final 10.4 seconds to lead the Nichols men's basketball team to a 62-60 victory over host Western New England College Thursday night (Jan. 29) at the Alumni Healthful Living Center.

Junior forward Ryan Wilcox (West Granby, CT) and senior guard Jeff Lindgren (Sturbridge, MA) each added 12 points as the Bison evened their overall record at 9-9 while improving to 4-2 in The Commonwealth Coast Conference (TCCC).

Both teams shot 38% from the field, but the difference came at the foul line where Nichols finished 13-of-18 (72.2%)while Western New England College made only 6-of-16 attempts (37.5%), including four missed shots in the final minute.

Nichols led 34-25 at halftime before the Golden Bears staged a comeback taking their first lead at 48-45 on a three-pointer by junior guard Paul Kennedy (Longmeadow, MA) with 9:18 left in the game.

Western New England College (4-13, 2-4 TCCC) took its biggest lead when sophomore forward Brad Thomka (Springfield, MA) made two foul shots for a 56-50 advantage with 3:01 left. His basket gave the hosts a 60-57 lead with 48.4 seconds remaining.

This time the Bison rallied as Wilcox scored a basket with 35.3 seconds left to cut the margin to one. That set the stage for Riley who previously made only 1-of-8 shots from the field. He finished the game with six points, but collected six rebounds and had three steals.

Sophomore center Chris Smith (Moosup, CT) was the third Nichols player in double figures with 10 points as he and Lindgen combined for 22 points off the bench. Wilcox grabbed seven rebounds as did freshman forward Pete Atkins (Gainesville, FL) who also netted nine points.

Thomka led the Golden Bears with a career high 19 points and 10 rebounds for his first career double-double.

Junior guard Rick Johnson (Springfield, MA) contributed 14 points (10 coming in the second half) while senior forward Kyle Fredette (Wallingford, VT) had a terrific all-around game with 10 points, nine rebounds, four blocks, three assists, and two steals. Senior guard Matt Maynard (Paterson, NJ) dished out a game-high five assists. Kennedy finished with eight points.