DUDLEY, Mass. - The Salve Regina University men's basketball team defeated Nichols, 96-62, in a The Commonwealth Coast Conference game. The Seahawks improve to 8-7 overall and 2-2 in TCCC games, while Nichols dips to 3-11 overall and 0-4 in conference play.

Windell Hinkson (Groton, Conn.) led Salve Regina with 23 points, while senior guard Ryan Birrell (Hope, R.I.) finished just shy of a triple double with 14 points, nine rebounds and eight assists.

Nichols first year forward Ryan Sheehan (North Attleboro, Mass.) led all scorers with 27 points.

The Seahawks took a quick 8-2 lead three minutes into the game but Nichols kept it close, tying it up at 17-all just before the midway mark of the first half on a Nick Brown (Nick Brown, Mass.) layup. Salve Regina scored the next five points before Nichols rattled off a 9-2 run capped by a Sheehan three-pointer to take its first lead of the game, 26-24, with 6:14 left in the half. A 12-2 Seahawks run late in the frame put the visitors up by 10 with under a minute to play, but a final Bison free throw from Dominique Jean-Pierre (Marlborough, Mass.) cut it to a nine-point game at the break, 44-35 in favor of Salve Regina.

The Seahawks opened the second half on a 21-5 run that put them up by 25, and maintained the distinct advantage with a 62.5% effort from the field in the half, while holding the Bison to a meager 28.6% in the stanza. Salve Regina received 18 second-half points from Hinkson, who fired 4-for-4 from beyond the arc to lead a 7-for-11 team effort in the half.

Overall in the game, Salve Regina fired a blazing 60% from the field and 63.6% from three-point range, burying 14 of 22 attempts. The Seahawks held a 41-33 rebounding advantage, grabbing 32 off the defensive glass alone.

Nichols hosts Colby-Sawyer Saturday at noon in a conference matchup. Salve Regina travels to Western New England College Saturday for a 3 p.m. TCCC game.

Courtesy of Nichols sports information