#4 Salve Regina falls to #1 Nichols in OT, 83-80

DUDLEY, Mass. – Seniors Ryan Sheehan (North Attleboro, Mass.) and Sam Horning (Falmouth, Maine) combined to score nine of Nichols College's 13 overtime points as the Bison rallied from a 10-point second-half deficit to defeat Salve Regina University 83-80 in the Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) Semifinals Thursday night at the Nichols Athletic Center.

Sheehan scored a team-high 24 points while Horning went for 14 – including the go-ahead three-pointer with 2:20 to go in overtime – to send the top-seeded Bison (22-5) to their seventh-straight win and the conference championship game for the first time in program history. Nichols will host No. 3 seed Gordon – who defeated No. 7 Wentworth 66-55 in the other semifinal – Saturday at 2 p.m.

Both Sheehan and Horning, along with sophomore Jalen Hurst (Hartford, Conn.), canned three triples on the evening. Sheehan shot 50 percent from the floor (8-of-16) and played the final 9:15 of the second half and all of overtime with four fouls. Horning registered a game-high six steals to go along with five rebounds, one assist and one block, and Hurst filled the stat sheet with 11 points, six rebounds, four assists and one steal.

Sophomore Barrett Hanlon (Hopkinton, Mass.) poured in a game-high 28 points on 12-of-24 shooting (50 percent) to go along with 10 boards for the Seahawks. Senior Jeff Bielefeld (Littleton, Mass.) – one of six seniors on the SRU squad who were members of the 2010-11 CCC Championship team – registered a double-double with 13 points and a game-high 14 rebounds. Classmate Patrick Dinneen (Medfield, Mass.) played all 45 minutes and tallied 19 points, seven rebounds, and four steals.

The Seahawks led by as many as seven in the first half on two occasions before setting into a 46-42 halftime lead. They opened up a 10-point cushion at 8:20 into the second half when senior Scott St. Lawrence (Litchfield, N.H.) sank a pair of free throws. Nichols answered with a 14-2 run to move ahead 67-65 behind four points from junior Matt Langadas (Sebago, Maine) and three from Sheehan, Hurst, and sophomore Gustave Koumare (Harlem, N.Y.), whose three with 6:37 left gave the Bison their first lead since late in the first half.

Three points from Bielefeld put the Seahawks back up by one (68-67) before Horning knocked down a three to put the Bison up one with 4:28 remaining. Following missed three-pointers from both Hanlon and Sheehan, Hanlon tied the game at 70 with 2:49 remaining. The Seahawks took possession of the ball with 37 seconds left and the game tied, and out of a timeout, Hanlon missed a layup that sent the game to overtime.

Hanlon opened the scoring in the extra session with a jumper before Langadas tied the game at 72 with a pair of free throws at the other end. Sheehan sank a jumper to give Nichols the lead at 74-72, but freshman Nicholas Bates (Danvers, Mass.) answered for the Seahawks to even things up at 74. On the ensuing possession, Sheehan drove the lane and kicked to Horning at the top of the key, and the senior buried a three to give Nichols a 77-74 lead.

The Seahawks climbed to within one (79-78) on a jumper by Hanlon, but two free throws from Hurst and one from Horning down the stretch put the Bison up three, and Sheehan stole an SRU inbounds pass to close the game. 

The Seahawks finished the contest with a 46-37 edge on the glass, but were outrebounded 25-20 over the final 25 minutes of play. The Bison turned 18 SRU turnovers into 24 points and finished the evening 14-of-18 from the charity stripe (78 percent). Salve Regina drained 46 percent of its field goal attempts (32-of-69) while the Bison shot at a 43 percent clip (29-of-67). Langadas finished the night with 11 points – including 5-of-6 from the line.