Dinneen delivers another CCC win for Salve Regina

NEWPORT, R.I. - Senior guard Patrick Dinneen (Medfield, Mass.) scored 24 points, one shy of his career high, and added eight rebounds and eight steals to lead Salve Regina University men's basketball (8-2; 3-0 CCC) to a 73-65 victory against Nichols College (5-4; 2-1 CCC) in Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) action at the Rodgers Recreation Center.

The Seahawks now have their most wins ever (eight) through the first 10 games of a season, and remain the only unbeaten team in the conference.

Tonight's first half featured four ties before Nichols went on a 16-6 run to open its largest lead of the game, 36-27, with 3:07 remaining in the period. Sophomore guard Irving Eggleston (East Lyme, Conn.) scored consecutive layups including an old-fashioned three-point play to ignite the run that started at 8:50.

Senior captain Ryan Sheehan (North Attleboro, Mass.) capped the run with his only 3-pointer of the game. Salve Regina senior captain Joshua Hohlfelder (Noank, Conn.) connected on a pair of layups to keep the margin in single digits.

After nearly two minutes of scoreless basketball, senior captain Jeff Bielefeld (Littleton, Mass.) and Dinneen had successful layups to bring the Seahawks within five points, 36-31, at the break.

Salve Regina sophomore Barrett Hanlon (Hopkinton, Mass.) had a three-point play at 16:23 of the second half that started an 8-1 run which ended with the game's fifth deadlock on Hohlfelder's layup at 14:03.  Four different players made free throws over the next two minutes and the margin moved two points in favor of the visitors.

Eggleston's layup at 10:11 gave the Bison another four-point lead before Hanlon's three-point play at 7:52 knotted the game for the sixth time (49-49).

Sophomore guard Jalen Hurst (Hartford, Conn.) scored five points for Nichols in a 43-second span (7:25-6:42) to keep the Bison up by three, 54-51. Bielefeld, Dinneen, and classmate Scott St. Lawrence (Litchfield, N.H.) scored successive baskets to flip the advantage over to Salve Regina by three, 57-54, at 5:25.

Gustave Koumare's (Harlem, N.Y.) free throws at 4:11 forged the game's final tie, 58-58.

Bielefeld's next layup preceded a 3-pointer from senior Sam Horning (Falmouth, Maine) at 3:34, which also marked the last field goal for the Bison and had them in front for the last time.

Dinneen responded with a three-point play at the other end to help Salve Regina end the game with a 13-4 run in the final 3:10. Hanlon had a floating jumper in the paint as the shot clock expired with 2:05 remaining.

"So proud of our senior leadership," said 12th-year head coach Sean Foster. "Jeff, Patrick, and Scott helped their teammates keep their composure down the stretch, while also hitting some clutch baskets. We picked it up defensively in the second half while getting our second wind on offense, too."

Sheehan, the league's leading scorer, led all players with 26 points including 11-of-14 from the line. The Bison missed a pair of front-end attempts on one-and-one free throws in the second. Both teams combined for 29 points from the free-throw line in the final 16:23 of the second.

Bielefeld scored 19 points while Hanlon dished out five assists and had 16 points. Dinneen scored 16 of his team-high 24 in the second and went 10-for-13 at the line.

Both teams are on the road Tuesday to face Commonwealth Coast Conference opponents - Salve Regina travels to Endicott College while Nichols moves on to Milton, Mass., to face Curry College. Salve Regina returns home on Thursday, January 9, when it hosts University of New England.