WORCESTER, Mass.  – The Clark University men's basketball team (5-3) led at the half against Nichols (3-4), but dropped the contest 75-64 to the Bison on Sunday afternoon from the Kneller Gymnasium.

How it Happened

• The Cougars jumped out to an early 9-5 lead sparked by five points from sophomore Boluwasefe John that included three made free throws and a layup off a feed from junior Quentin Pridgen and first-year Aliaun Iscandari added two layups.
• After Nichols tied the game with four unanswered points from Javen Flowers-Smith before Iscandari connected on a triple before the Bison rattled off seven straight to take a 16-12 advantage with 13:57 remaining in the half.
• John, first-year Elijah Small, and Iscandari combined for Clark's next six points before a triple from sophomore Kyle Squires with 7:30 to go tied the contest at 21-21.
• John and Iscandari scored Clark's next four points as each hit a pair of free throws before Small went 2-2 from the line with 4:29 to play as the Cougars held a 27-23 edge.
• After a Flowers-Smith layup, John slammed down a dunk and Squires buried his second three-pointer of the half to push the scarlet and white's advantage to 32-25.
• Squires and John netted Clark's final four points of the half, capped with a John layup off a feed from first-year Trace Clark gave the scarlet and white a 36-31 lead heading into the locker room.
• John and Neumann scored the first four points of the second half to extend the lead to as many as nine before Ethan Minarik hit a triple and a pair of Flowers-Smith free throws made it a 43-40 contest with 15:50 remaining.
• Clark then rattled off six straight points as Small added four and Iscandari made a layup to extend the edge back to nine, but the Bison ripped off 11 straight points, capped by a Kuany Teng triple as Nichols led 51-49.
• John scored the Cougars next seven points to pull back within four and after a Dominic Mello jumped, Squires made a layup to make it a 62-58 game in favor of the visitors with 4:53 to play.
• Nichols rattled off the next seven points of the game as Mello netted five before Iscandari made a layup and first-year Trace Clark hit a triple with 2:06 remaining as the Cougars trailed 71-63.
• The Bison ended the contest on a 4-1 run as John added Clark's final point of the afternoon as they fell 75-64.

Inside the Box Score

• Clark made 23 shots, grabbed 48 rebounds, dished out 14 assists, and forced 19 turnovers.
• John registered his first double-double and recorded a career-high 23 points, while pulling down 11 rebounds, and dished out five assists.
• Iscandari added 17 points, four steals, four rebounds, and three assists.
• Squires also reached double-figures with 10 points and added four rebounds.
• Small tallied eight points and six rebounds.

What's Next
The Cougars will open NEWMAC play on Wednesday night when they welcome MIT to the Kneller for a contest beginning at 7:00 p.m.