After getting off to a great early season start and collecting a record of 9-1, including the attention-grabbing win over Olean, the Vikings were ready to find out where they stood in the Monsignor Martin Association. Having already survived the trip to Walsh, Nichols entered what is probably the toughest place to play in all of WNY, Timon/St. Jude. The Vikings left with their first resounding loss of the season, and a reminder of just how difficult winning in the MMA was going to be, especially against the big dogs.
Timon bettered its record to 4-5 on the season and showed continued improvement, as they disposed of Nichols, 82-59, to open league play with a win. The Tigers only losses to WNY teams this season have come against McKinley in the season opener, and at Jamestown.
After a competitive start to the game yielded a 15-11 score after one quarter, the Tigers dialed up some defensive pressure and broke the game open. During a five minute stretch in the second quarter, the Tigers went on a 16-3 run to and held Nichols without a field goal, to push the score to 33-16. Donte Williams and Manny Welch scored all of Timon's points during the run and combined for 20 of the Tiger's 22 points in the quarter. Williams, who finished with a game-high 24 points, did not play in Timon's two-point loss at Jamestown two weeks earlier.
Nichols was never able to get any closer than within 12 points the rest of the game. When the Vikings made it 62-50 in the fourth quarter, Welch came right back with a 3-pointer that spurred a 20-8 run to close out the game and seal the win for the Tigers.
Welch finished with 21 points, while Damone Harris added 12 points in the win.
Sophomore Cam Lewis led Nichols with 23 points, while Liam Ryan scored 15 points in the loss.
Timon hossts Archbishop Walsh on Wednesday night, while Nichols is back in action tonight as they host Niagara Catholic.
-centercourt
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