Nicholls gets top 5 ranking in Louisiana
January 11, 2018
TGMC names January Employee of the Month
January 11, 2018
Thibodaux native Kevin Johnson picked an awfully good time to play the best collegiate game of his young career for the Nicholls basketball team.
The true freshman guard and E.D. White scored a career-high 19 points, including a huge, late-game dagger 3-pointer which helped the Colonels beat McNeese State 85-80 on Wednesday night in Stopher Gym.
With the win, the Colonels are now 4-1 in the Southland Conference – emerging quickly as one of the league’s lead dogs in the chase to make the NCAA Tournament.
“Kevin Johnson was huge,” Nicholls coach Richie Riley said after the win. “He just has a lot of winning things to him – he’s just a winning kid. When you’re a winning kid and a winning person, when those moments come, it usually goes your way and it did again tonight for him.”
His heroics helped Nicholls ice a back-and-forth game.
McNeese came to play, leading 43-41 at halftime, thanks to 51 percent shooting from the field and six made 3-pointers.
But the Colonels never faltered.
Throughout the second half, the Colonels attacked the glass with incredible energy, which allowed for second-chance points and paint offense, which helped the Colonels take the lead.
Senior Roddy Peters scored a game-high 26 points in the win on 9-of-14 shooting. Johnson’s offense came on 8-of-10 shooting, including a huge 3-ball with 50 seconds left, which helped the Colonels go up 4.
With the win, the Colonels improved to 10-8 overall and 4-1 in Southland – only trailing Southeastern Louisiana, who sits at an unblemished 4-0.
The Colonels will face Central Arkansas on Saturday at Stopher Gymnasium at 3 p.m.
