Nichols fell behind as much as, 21-7 at 12:24 behind the hot shooting of Falcon freshman Brian Torres (14 points). He hit three 3-pointers in the first thee minutes of play.
The Bison slowly cut the lead behind the play of Butler (16 first half points) and freshman Matt Fournier, who hit three 3-pointers in the half. Nichols offensive run started at the end of the half when senior Anthony Smith hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to cut the halftime lead to , 42-36.
In the second half, the Bison ran off 11 straight points to go ahead, 50-42. Four different Bison players were involved in the run that put Nichols ahead for good.
Smith finished the game with nine points, 12 assists and three key steals for Nichols. Freshman Justin Lewis added 10 while Fournier had all his points in the first half.
The Falcons were led by Jim Prignano with 16 points, while Rashad Cope had 14 and Dan Largesse added 12 points and five assists.
Nichols College (2-3) will travel to Worcester State on Thursday, Dec. 9 at 7 p.m. Fitchburg State will host Clark on Thursday.
Release courtesy of Nichols Sports Information
Newspaper Box Score Fitchburg State vs Nichols 12/7/04 7:00pm at Dudley, MA At Dudley, MA NICHOLS 77, FITCHBURG STATE 68 FITCHBURG STATE (0-6) Jim Prignano 6-15 0-0 16; Rashad Cope 6-13 2-2 14; Brian Torres 5-12 0-0 14; Dan Largesse 4-10 2-3 12; Matt Collins 2-4 0-0 5; Jocelyn Velney 1-1 0-0 3; Adam DiZuzio 0-1 2-2 2; Nick Smith 1-9 0-0 2; Brian Skiffington 0-1 0-0 0; Peter Uzoma 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 25-66 6-7 68. NICHOLS (2-3) Casey Butler 8-20 10-12 27; Matt Fournier 3-6 1-1 10; Justin Lewis 4-13 2-5 10; Anthony Smith 4-11 0-0 9; Ron Powers 3-7 1-2 8; Jermaine Baskerville 2-4 0-0 6; Dave Berkland 2-3 0-1 4; Chris Vallee 1-2 1-1 3; Scott LaTorra 0-0 0-0 0; Jamel Newman 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 27-66 15-22 77. Fitchburg State............... 42 24 - 66 Nichols....................... 36 41 - 77 3-point goals- Fitchburg State 12-32 (Brian Torres 4-8; Jim Prignano 4-9; Dan Largesse 2-7; Jocelyn Velney 1-1; Matt Collins 1-3; Brian Skiffington 0-1; Nick Smith 0-2; Adam DiZuzio 0-1), Nichols 8-20 (Matt Fournier 3-6; Jermaine Baskerville 2-3; Casey Butler 1-4; Anthony Smith 1-4; Ron Powers 1-2; Justin Lewis 0-1). Fouled out-- Fitchburg State-None, Nichols-None. Rebounds- Fitchburg State 35 (Rashad Cope 6), Nichols 52 (Casey Butler 15). Assists- Fitchburg State 18 (Dan Largesse 5), Nichols 17 (Anthony Smith 12). Total fouls- Fitchburg State 15, Nichols 14. A-200