DUDLEY, Mass. – The Salve Regina University men's basketball team overcame a 12-point deficit at halftime to defeat host Nichols College, 83-75, in a Commonwealth Coast Conference game Thursday evening. The Seahawks, winners of five of their last six, improve to 9-6 overall and remain atop the league standings at 7-1. Nichols drops its second league game in a row to dip to 5-10 overall and 3-5 in conference action.

Guards Ryan Birrell (Scituate, R.I.), Patrick Dinneen (Medfield, Mass.) and Isiah Pringle (Queens, N.Y.) combined for 62 points for the Seahawks, totaling 38 in the second half alone. Birrell scored a game-high 22, netting 10 on 12 free throw attempts, while adding a team-best eight rebounds and game-high seven assists. Dinneen exploded for 14 in the second half for 21 total points on 7-of-13 shooting, and Pringle hit 4-of-7 from three-point range among his 19 points.

Sam Horning (Falmouth, Maine) led the Bison with 16 points off the bench including a 4-for-5 performance from three-point range. Jalen Graham (Ansonia, Conn.) added 15 and nine rebounds, while Matt Langadas (Casco, Maine) chipped in with 13 in his second career start.

Both teams were hot to trot in the opening half as Nichols shot 60.6% from the floor and Salve Regina fired a solid 44.8%. The first nine baskets of the game were counted, with Dinneen giving the vistors a 10-8 edge on a three-pointer ahead of the three-minute mark.

The Seahawks used back-to-back three-pointers from Brendan Canova (Edina, Minn.) to take a seven-point lead prior to the midpoint of the first half, but Nichols responded with a 16-0 run, paced by three three-pointers from Horning, to take control of the game at 33-24. Ryan Sheehan (North Attleboro, Mass.) completed a three-point play with 5:28 left to put Nichols up by double-digits, and Graham converted a Jessy Michaud (Tamarac, Fla.)steal into a fast break layup at the break to give the Bison their largest lead of the game headed into halftime, 51-39.

The momentum shifted early in the second half as a Pringle three-pointer set the Seahawks sailing on a 15-0 run spanning almost six minutes, giving the visitors their first lead since midway through the first half, 68-51. Seven straight points from Graham gave the Bison back a two-point advantage, but two of three free throws from Birrell with 3:09 remaining shifted the momentum back in favor of the Seahawks as they reclaimed a three-point advantage, 74-71.

Nichols twice brought it within two points, but a 5-for-8 effort at the line down the stretch kept Salve Regina in the drivers' seat the rest of the way.

Rebounds in the game were even at 33 per team, while Salve Regina parlayed Nichols' 19 turnovers in 24 points. The Bison created 17 points out of the Seahawks' 16 turnovers. The Nichols bench was again out in force, scoring 39 points. Both teams finished the game shooting 47.4%.

Nichols continues CCC action on Saturday in a 3 p.m. game at Gordon. Salve Regina hosts Roger Williams Saturday at 3 p.m.

Courtesy of Nichols sports information