COACH PLEADS GUILTY TAKES 25 YEAR SEX TRAFFICKING SENTENCE
February 28, 2019
Colonels use free throws to score big win
March 1, 2019
There’s just something about facing Central Arkansas this year that brings out the best in Nicholls’ shooters.
Last month, the Colonels made 15 3-pointers in a 74-68 loss in Conway — one of the better shooting performances of the season for a Nicholls team that’s been streaky from deep all season.
On Saturday, they dug into the record books with the best shooting day in school history in a blowout 100-57 win.
The Colonels shot 50.8 percent from the floor in the win, including a school-record 22 made 3-pointers on 41 attempts (53.7 percent).
After leading 44-25 at halftime, the Colonels slammed the door shut in the second half, shooting 12-of-19 from deep in the final 20 minutes to secure the win.
Nicholls is now 12-15 on the season and 5-9 in league play.
The final weeks of the season will be a sprint to the finish, as the Colonels are in a tie for ninth place in the league, which sends eight teams to its conference tournament.
Nicholls trails Texas A&M – Corpus Christi (6-8) by one game for the 8-spot, but the Colonels have work to do because they Islanders beat them head-to-head, which means that simply tying them will now achieve the 8-seed.
But what plays to Nicholls’ advantage is that literally all of their remaining games are at home — a five-game homestand that started in the win on Saturday against Central Arkansas.
And the Colonels appeared pretty comfortable shooting in their home gym.
The Colonels torched the Bears from start-to-finish, opening the game with a made 3-pointer from Elvis Harvey, then shooting their way to a 20-10 lead midway through the first half.
Before halftime, the Colonels exploded — a run in the final 9 minutes to take a 44-25 lead before halftime.
Sophomore guard and Thibodaux native Kevin Johnson made a 3-pointer as time expired to ignite the crowd and carry the team into the lockers. Johnson had 14 points and 9 assists in the win.
Nicholls made six other three pointers in the barrage, including key buckets from Jeremiah Jefferson (26 points total), Danny Garrick (20 points) and Gavin Peppers (12 points).
In the second half, the Colonels kept coming.
The lead explored to 30 points 4 minutes into the second half with a quick 14-3 run to push the advantage to 58-28.
From there, the Colonels kept dominating — growing the lead to as many as 46 points on a 3-point strike from local walk-on Thomas Clement, the final points of the game for Nicholls.
With the victory, the Colonels will take on McNeese tonight at 7 p.m. — another huge game for the Colonels because the Cowboys are 4-10 in the Southland.
After battling McNeese, Nicholls will host UNO on Saturday afternoon — a team the Colonels beat a few weekends ago at Lakefront Arena.
Tip-off for that game will be at 3:30 p.m.
Victories in both games could go a long way in helping Nicholls clinch a spot in the Top 8 in the Southland.
WOMEN KEEP PACE WITH LEAGUE POWERS
While the Nicholls men fight, scratch and claw to get into the Southland Conference Tournament, the women know they’re in — they’re just playing for seeding.
The Colonels crushed Central Arkansas 68-52 on Saturday, improving to 16-10 on the season and 10-4 in the Southland.
Four Nicholls players scored in double figures in the win, led by guard Tykeria Williams, who scored 17 points off the bench.
Also scoring double figures were Cassidy Barrios (15 points), Chrystal Ezechukwu (14 points) and Airi Hamilton (11 points).
Williams has been a spark plug sixth woman for the Colonels since returning from injury.
In the past three games, she’s scored 44 points, while shooting 12-of-30 from the field. She’s also been flawless at the line, making 15 of her 16 charity stripe attempts.
With the win, Nicholls has kept pace with the powers in the Southland Conference — a three-game winning streak and five victories in the past six games.
The Colonels are tied for third with Abilene Christian in the Southland — both teams at 10-4. That’s a crucial place to be because of the 4 opening-round byes handed out to the Top 4 teams in the postseason tournament.
The Colonels lead Sam Houston State by two games in the loss column. The Bearkats are in fifth at 9-6 and the Colonels also hold the tiebreaker.
Nicholls will close the season with four games — all in Louisiana and all against teams with losing records in the league.
The Colonels finish with McNeese, UNO, Northwestern State and Southeastern — in that order.
The first game is against the Cowgirls tonight at 6:30 p.m.
Those four teams have a combined 19-39 record in the Southland.
The Nicholls State University men’s basketball team made 22 3 pointers in a huge victory against Central Arkansas. Nicholls needs to keep winning to reach the Southiand Tournament
