HAMDEN, Conn. -- Travis Nichols scored 15 points and Brent Jones converted a late, go-ahead layup to lift St. Francis (N.Y.) over Quinnipiac 63-61 Thursday night in the Northeast Conference opener for both teams.

St. Francis (5-7), which trailed 28-25 at halftime, opened up a 50-42 lead with 10:19 left to play but Quinnipiac (4-8) rallied to tie the game at 54-all and take its first lead of the half, 55-54, at the 3:48 mark.

From there, the teams battled through three ties and three lead changes before Ike Azotam's layup tied the game at 61-all with 49 seconds remaining. Jones hit a layup with 9 seconds left to give St. Francis the lead and recorded a steal on Quinnipiac's next possession.

Quinnipiac's Dave Johnson had a layup attempt blocked with 3 seconds showing and Evan Conti's desperation 3-pointer at the buzzer rimmed off.

Zaid Hearst led Quinnipiac with 13 points.