Men’s Basketball Falls Short at Nichols

DUDLEY, Mass. – The Wentworth Institute of Technology men's basketball team's comeback effort fell just short as the Leopards fell 79-71 to the Nichols Bison on Tuesday night. Colin Mannke led Wentworth with 24 points on 11-21 shooting and grabbed a team-high nine rebounds. Russel Dolabany added 13 points, four assists, four rebounds, and two steals. Dylan Olson scored six points and grabbed seven boards while Aiden Flaherty grabbed eight rebounds. Chase Mello had three assists and six points.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Nichols took an early lead behind buckets from Olivier St. Louis and Luke Chapmen. Russel Dolabany scored the first bucket for Wentworth, but the Bison pushed the lead to 11-4 with 12:30 to play. Jayden Williams' three and Colin Mannke's two buckets brought Wentworth within five points at the midway mark of the half. Nichols answered with five quick points to push the advantage back to 10 just a minute later.
• Chase Mello got the Leopards within one, with just under four and a half minutes to play in the first half with back-to-back buckets. Wentworth's offense was knocking down shots and the defense stood strong to keep Nichols from building a large lead. Mannke's three tied the game at 27 with three to go before the Bison went on a 10-0 run to close the half.
• Mannke's layup and a pair of free throws from Mello cut the lead down to eight points in the early stages of the second half. The Leopards battled but could not cut the deficit down to under 10 points halfway through the second half. Trailing by 10 with 6:30 to go, Mannke hit another triple before another pair of free throws from Dolabany got Wentworth back within eight points.
• Nichols built their lead up to 13 points as the game reached the final five minutes, but Wentworth would not go down quietly. Mannke scored the next three buckets for the Leopards and Dolabany added his own score to bring the visitors within nine with just under a minute to play. Mannke and Olson hit shots late to give the Bison a scare, but the hosts hit free throws down the stretch to secure the 79-71 victory.

THE SERIES

• Tonight was the 61st all-time meeting between the teams.

NEXT UP

• The Leopards host Gordon on Saturday afternoon. 

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